Breath of Fire II: The Complete Story
by metroid21345
Summary: The entire story of Breath of Fire II, as done through my take on it.
1. Prologue: The Gate Incident

Breath of Fire II: The Complete Story

Prologue: The Gate Incident 

As I lay in my cold, hard bed, located in the upstairs bedroom of the Church of the Dragon, in the town of Gate, I saw visions in my head. Visions of something evil…

_There was nothing but darkness. All around me, surrounding me, binding me, threatening to suffocate me. A deep, overwhelming, brooding, constricting darkness. The kind of darkness you only see (or imagine to see) in the deepest pits of hell. I could see no light, could see nothing at all that, not one single penetrating ray of iridescence that would illuminate a way out of this stifling prison, nothing... I stood, continuing to search desperately for anything that would light a path for me, for I knew I did not want to be down there._

_And then, something mysterious appeared; something that would change my life forever, though I would not figure that out for many years. This "thing" was nothing at first, just a slight deviation in the texture of the air in front of me, one that I could hardly discern in the dark. And then, it slowly began to materialize. Whatever it was, it looked to be stretching the air sideways, as if coming through some interdimensional portal. And then, suddenly, so damn suddenly I fell over backwards from surprise and bruised my rear end, a great orange eye appeared at the point where the air had begun to separate. Its veins stretching in a sickening fashion, the eye stared intently at me for a bit, as if searching my soul for something, I suppose. It then began to talk, though, strangely, not where my ears could hear, but only my heart (kind of a bad description, I know; but that's the only way to describe it)._

_"So you are Ryu," the eye said in a surprisingly normal voice; I had been expecting it to have a deep voice, to complement its menacing appearance. I wasn't feeling well enough at this point to notice that the thing knew my name, and merely waited for what it would say next. Though I was frightened quite a bit, the creature still looked quite interesting—after all, it's not every day that a huge eye appears, even in your dreams, and speaks to you and even knows you by name. And besides, I was a kid; we're all interested in weird stuff like that at that point in our lives. "We have been awaiting the time when we could finally communicate with you," it continued. "Hear me now, Ryu, destined child. You will never be able to defeat our God, for he is all-powerful—even more powerful than the greatest of the dragons, those evil creatures. He has lain dormant many years, gathering power from the prayers of his disciples, and when he strikes, all the non-believers will believe in the power of our God, and he will be worshipped throughout the world. Even so, he has slowly started to lose that strength which he has been gathering, for there are many of his followers that are beginning to disbelieve, and are turning instead to the Dragon God for their prayers. He is quite displeased over this lack of faith being exhibited, and once he comes back, he shall be sure to take care of those pitiful beings. You must fear him, Ryu, and fear him greatly. Your fear, the fear of the destined child, shall give great strength to our God, and when he comes back, his vengeance against you will be terrible…" And with that, the eye began to close up slowly, keeping an eerie watch on me until the very last bit had disappeared from view._

Suddenly, my dream was over, and I was snapped back into the real world. I quickly sat up, my small chest heaving up and down with some of the deepest breaths I had ever taken. That vision scared me, quite badly at that, and I was afraid I might have wet my bed from fear. I hastened to check, and was relieved to see I hadn't. After doing so, I sat there for a bit, still panting heavily, and thinking that if I moved to get out of bed, something horrible might take me into the darkness and eat me up; or worse, make me talk to that disembodied eye again. What was it that thing had called me… something like the "destined child?" What the heck was that? Whatever that was, I knew I was not one. I was just Ryu Bateson, son of the local priest, Ganer, in a crummy little town with about 10 citizens. A nobody, basically. I had no idea who the God was that the eye kept referencing, either. I had a God myself, of course, but he is a kind and gentle one, or so I had been taught. I had a feeling my God would not have such a scary apparition working for him. I made up my mind that, evidently, people believed there was more than one God in the world. That was cool with me. Different strokes for different folks, eh? However, since I did not know the God the eye referenced, I made up my mind to forget what the eye had told me and believe it had never happened. And I did. At least, for a while.

So I turned on my side, back to my normal sleeping position, intent on getting back to my nap. I figured it was probably already morning, but that didn't matter. I was tired, after all, and I would probably have to do some laborious nonsense work today. So, I might as well get in a decent bit of shuteye.

Unfortunately, my reverie didn't last long. My father's booming voice snapped me back to reality, calling from the downstairs with that commanding tone that I was all too familiarized with. From the sound of things, I was wanted downstairs for some reason. Just as I had suspected. Another menial task to do. I sighed, a deep sigh for such a small child, and clambered out of bed, my bare feet recoiling instinctively at first from the cold floor. One again, I sighed heavily. Everything, it seemed, was cold here in the town of Gate; the floors, the walls, the air, and the people most especially. Just waking up reminded me of that terrible reality, and I hated that. I detested living there, for there was nothing at all for a pent up nine-year old to do, but since this was the only Church of the Dragon for miles and miles, my father, and thus me and my sister, Yua, was forced to take up residence here. Everyplace else my father had looked, I remember, had strictly believers in that stupid St. Eva, and they had turned away my father at every opportunity, though they did do it as nicely as possible. It was a source of constant irritation to me to be stuck there in that crummy little town, for the townspeople all looked down on me and treated me as if I was some stupid creature without a brain cell in my head. There weren't even any kids there other than me, except for Yua, and she was hardly any fun at all. All she did was run around and go to the back mountain. There hadn't even been any exciting things happen in the four years my family had been there, except for one, and that turned out to be a tragedy, for my mother had died then…

"RYU! Get down here already! What, are you still asleep?! I need your help!" There was my dad's voice again, and I had been alive long enough to know if I didn't get down there now, I was going to have a hard time sitting down the next week. Realizing that, I made a mad dash down the stairs, and nearly collided with my father, who was standing right at the bottom of the stairs (What was he doing so close? Usually he was at least a couple of feet away).

"Ryu, I need some help," he said, looking flushed and sweaty. I grinned to myself, a small grin that I knew would get me a smack if my father noticed it. Yua must have had him chasing after her like mad. "Your sister's run off again instead of taking her nap, and I need your assistance in rounding her back up. I tried to catch her, but you know that I'm too old to keep chasing her around town. My ancient bones just won't allow me to run very fast anymore, you know? And, after all, you usually know where she's hiding, so will you do this favor for me? Please?"

I nodded my assent, saying yes, I would once more go get Yua back from wherever she had gone. I turned to my left and made my way out of the church and out into the town. I figured she was probably in the mountains again, playing with that awesome dragon she was so fond of.

As I stepped out and breathed the fresh fall air, I noted with a glum look the arch that signaled the entrance, and thus the exit, to the village. How I longed to go out there and see what it was like again! However, there was a guard, a stupid, fat, moronic man, permanently stationed there by request of my father, and I knew that it was pointless to ask him if I could leave, for it was "too dangerous for little kids without any knowledge of combat" out there. I knew that phrase well enough; every day for about 2 years I had asked to be let out of the village, and every time I had been sent away with a ringing in my ears and those words whirling around my head. I groaned and began to head on to the back of the village, where the entrance to the mountains lay. It was covered with a bunch of fake grass so that Yua and I wouldn't go in there, but we had long ago figured out how to avoid that stuff and slip in.

As I was heading back, I saw the town's few inhabitants all outside, talking with each other or just walking around. I prayed right then and there that my life wouldn't become like these peoples' when I grew up. Here they stood, day after day, year after stinking year, just talking their boring talk to one another. Only one or two of them ever even walked around. The rest stood rooted in their spots for all of eternity. It was as if they were in comas, just ones that you could talk in. Their lives were empty and devoid of anything resembling life except the breaths of air that they drew. They had nothing at all going for them, no families, no jobs, no anything; and though I pitied them somewhat, I still did not want to share the experience with them. I wanted, I needed, I craved adventure and excitement, not the dullness that was offered me if I stayed there in Gate.

After my little thinking spell, I went up to where the mountain path was. There were three paths up there, but only the center one led to where the dragon was. As far I could tell, the other two paths were useless. The dragon's hands (claws, I guess) were on both sides, guarding something mysterious, but the center led to the head, which was far more interesting than the hands, and thus I went there first.

After arriving in the clearing, I saw who I expected to be there. Yua, who, as small as she was, looked even smaller than usual there next to the huge dragon's head, was apparently deep in meditation, or something like that. She was sitting down on the ground cross-legged, and was staring up at the dragon. She might have even been talking to it, I don't know for sure. All I knew was, she had no idea of her surroundings. I grinned evilly. I figured I would be a good big brother and give her a good scare in order to pay her back for making me drag myself out of bed and out here in the cold.

I started to sneak over to where she was, but before I got halfway there, there suddenly popped out, to my astonishment, a monster. A monster! I hadn't seen one of those since I had moved to the village; my father had taken special care to eradicate every single last one around the area so that Yua and I could play safely. _Guess he missed one_, I thought ruefully as I desperately looked around for a weapon to combat the creature, a blue, spiny, floating creature I knew to be called Beak. I finally found a sturdy stick just before the monster closed in on me. I gave the thing a good whack across the face, but the blow hardly seemed to faze the creature. However, I could see I had succeeded in making it pissed, and it charged me, mouth open in a feral scream. I yelled out and tried to dodge, but the creature's sharp beak ripped through my shirt and into my flesh before I could get away, causing me to cry out in pain and a gash to appear on my shoulder. As I went down, it came back, and began circling me, searching for the best angle at which to hit me again.

I slowly stood up, wincing from the pain, and moved to smack it again, but suddenly I beheld a number of lightning bolts zipping down from the sky to connect with the creature. As I watched, my jaw hanging open as I did so, the lightning caused a brief illumination of the creature's skeleton, and then it fell out of the air, dead.

I turned to thank my savior, and saw with little surprise that it was my father. I should have known right away, though; Ganer was the only magician in Gate capable of producing such a powerful blast, after all. Heck, he was the only magician in Gate, period. The rest of the people probably had no clue what magic even was. He put away his staff he used for conjuring spells such as that one, and reverted it to its walking stick mode. He then hobbled over to where I was, looking as casual as could be, if a little worn out. Though he was still quite a capable wizard, my father was getting old, and he couldn't perform magic as easily as before. He looked me over to make sure I was good and intact, gave me a smile to show he was proud of what I had tried to do, and moved on to Yua, who was oblivious of what had just taken place and was evidently still deep in concentration. My father tapped her on the shoulder with his stick, causing her to jump a little. When she turned around and saw that it was her daddy, and not some bad guy intent on killing her, she quickly opened her mouth to explain just what the heck she was doing out there, but before she could start, Ganer began berating her.

"Yua! What do you think you're doing, scaring your brother and I by running off out here? Don't you know there are monsters out here? I just killed one, and it almost had Ryu! You nearly caused your brother's death, young lady! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You are a very bad little girl! I nearly had a heart attack thanks to you!!" She hung her head down low. I could tell she was truly sorry. On the other hand, Ganer wasn't really mad at her. Sure, he was talking like he was furious, but I could tell he was still somewhat happy; his little girl had only come here to talk with the dragon, and not do some darn foolish other thing, like try to climb the mountain. But Yua couldn't discern his hidden joy, so she just stood there, silently absorbing his lecture.

Suddenly, catching a break in my father's reprimand, she looked up from the spot on the ground she was staring at and exclaimed, "But Daddy! I just wanted to see Mom! She's here, and she'll come into my thoughts if I concentrate. I think that Mom's the dragon, or the dragon knows Mom, or something, 'cause Mom will only be in my thoughts if I'm close to the dragon. It might sound dumb, but it's true!"

It didn't look as though Ganer was paying full attention to her, however. He was, rather, staring at the dragon with a mistiness in his eyes. "Mom, huh? Valerie… how I miss her. Curse the demon that made her trans… er, killed her. I will never forget him, just as I will never forget your mother. He caused me unbearable pain that day three years ago. I just wasn't strong enough to keep his claws off your mother. He was too much for me to handle. It's a damn good thing this dragon here was able to help us, for if it had not come when it did, this whole town would have been destroyed, and you all wouldn't be here right now. It was all the dragon's doing; I did nothing. I had thought I was powerful, thought I was the greatest magician around, but when I used my powers, that demon just laughed at me, spit on me, cursed me. I was…weak. Too weak to help." I felt terrible at this moment for my father, for I still believed him to be the strongest man I had ever known, and yet there he was, talking down to his own self.

Yua looked up, eyes shining, ready to defend her father, whom she thought was the strongest person she had ever seen. "No, Daddy, you WERE strong! All the townspeople say so! You and the dragon both helped defeat the demon. You're the best, Daddy! Don't say that you're weak, 'cause you're not! Right, Ryu?"

I nodded, only paying half-attention to the conversation. My main focus was on the dragon's head directly in front of me. It seemed familiar somehow, and yet, if there had been a dragon in my past, I surely would have remembered it. I studied its huge, black eyes intently, for they seemed to be trying to tell me something, but no images or words came into my mind. _Maybe it only works for Yua_, I thought. I looked away, sensing it was almost time to go.

When I turned, I saw that Ganer had Yua by her hand, and she was still jabbering about the dragon and Mom. I didn't really hear what he said right then, because, for some strange reason, it seemed far away, but my father said something about how he was taking Yua home and that I needed to get back too, for it was dangerous out here, what with the monsters and all. I nodded, my mind still zeroed in on the dragon, and said, yes, I would come soon.

As soon as they left, and all was quiet, a deep feeling of sleepiness came over me. _What is this? I just had a nap. A pretty good one at that, too, even with that stupid eyeball showing up. Why am I sleepy again so soon? Is it the pollen? All the running I've been doing? The fight? The pain? What is it?_ Unfortunately, I was not able to figure out the answer to these questions right then, and so I slid down into unconsciousness.

And there, in that void of nothingness, for the second time that day, I saw that terrible eye again, but this time, it was there already. No opening up or anything; once I was pulled into the dream world, I saw it right away, gazing at me, never blinking. I was not as scared as I was the first time, though, for it did not attempt to communicate with me. Rather, it just stared at me, for what seemed to be a long, long time…

-------------------------

"Wow! That was a good nap!" I said to no one in particular as I awakened and began to stretch. I felt a heck of a lot better now that I had taken a nap, even if it had been plagued by visions of a scary eyeball. I probably hadn't slept too long, but whatever; my brain told me I had, and I listened to my brain when it told me things. So now, refreshed and ready, I began to make my way back to the village, intent on getting back to my room at the church (even if I was feeling peppy, I could always get more sleep).

However, as I arrived back into the town proper, I sensed something was up. I could feel it in the air. Something bad had happened in the few minutes I had been asleep, I just knew it. When I looked at the people, their faces seemed vacant (of course, their faces were always like that, but this time it was different). It seemed even colder than usual, like the town had suddenly gone through a major blizzard and was still recovering. The people were not frozen or anything like that, though; they were, surprisingly, moving around more than before. I approached the annoying gossipy duo of Sue and Mel, who were forever parked in front of Mel's house, to see if they knew what was up.

"Hey, misses," I began. "Sorry to sound like a nut, but do you know if anything strange has happened here recently? Like, any sudden weather changes or stuff like that?"

They halted their conversation, turned, and stared down at me. "Who on earth are you?" Sue demanded. "Are you another one of those orphans, boy? Another one of those thieves, hmmm? Get away from me, you filthy boy! Or else, I shall have to call the guards. You all are supposed to be inside the church at all times, not wandering around trying to steal from nice citizens such as myself and Mel. And you know that, too. So, go on. Get out of here!"

I was genuinely puzzled. What the heck was going on here? Had Ganer told them to play a trick on me or something? "B-b-but, ma'am," I said. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, Ryu Bateson. You know, Ganer's son? The one that's lived here for four years? The one's that tried to talk to you nearly every day of those four years? Any of that ring a bell?"

"Ryu? Ryu Bateson? Nope, that doesn't ring any bells, and neither does Ganer. How about with you, Mel? Any ideas?" Her companion shook her head, and Sue shrugged. "Who is he, anyways?"

"Well, Ryu's me, and Ganer's my father and the preacher at the only church in the town."

"The preacher?! No, no, young man. The preacher of this town has always, and will forever be, Father Hulk." She sighed dreamily. "He is the greatest man I have ever seen."

"Father?" I was puzzled. A father? In our town? She had to have been mistaken. Still, I had to make sure. "You mean, a priest? A Saint Evan priest?"

"Exactly. Oh, how I do love Saint Eva, don't you?"

"Uhhhh…not exactly. I'm a believer in the Church of the Dragon."

"You are? Interesting. I haven't heard of anyone professing to that doctrine in years."

That was odd. The Church of the Dragon was the biggest religion in the world, though St. Eva was slowly catching up. It's membership numbered in the millions. But I still went on. "Oh. Right. Well, thank you for your time, ma'am."

"You are quite welcome… I guess. Now run along back to the church, and stay there this time."

Well, that had been strange. Before, every time I had ever talked to them, usually when I went out to play or look for Yua, they had always told me that Yua was playing at the back mountain (as if I didn't already know) and not much else. Now, however, they had changed their tune, and quite drastically at that. I was confounded. What in the holy name of the Dragon Lord had they blabbing about? Saint Eva? Father Hulk? My father never allowed any of the followers of St. Eva in his village, for he knew they were crazy, and would probably try to raze the town to the ground for being "heathens" and what not. I was getting spooked. I decided to make my way to the church to see if what they were saying was a lie or not. It had to be. Probably some great big practical joke they all decided to play on me. Sickos.

When I arrived at the little building and peered in, it appeared normal, which meant cold and dead. Then, my eyes flew to the pulpit, and there they confirmed my fears. Standing there, reading the Holy Book of the Dragon (well, probably not that; most likely it was a St. Evan text), with a bald head, orange robes, tiny glasses, and a smiling expression, was a man who looked nothing like my father. Now, I was starting to get a little scared. The priest noticed me standing in the doorway, and, his smile widening, asked me, "Are you an orphan?"

I began to have this bad feeling that maybe my family had deserted me while I was sleeping in the back mountain, and so I figured I might as well answer the way he wanted to. "Yes, sir, actually, I am. You see, I was just in the back mountains a few minutes ago, taking a rest, and when I woke up, my dad and sister are gone. Just disappeared. And now I'm scared for them, sir."

The priest nodded benignly. "I'm sure you are, my good child. I would be, too, if that ever happened to me."

"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, my child."

"Who are you?" Suddenly, I began to get a little hysterical. This strange person was standing in my father's spot, had taken my father's place of power, and though I had been feeling fine a second ago, I was suddenly overcome with emotion. "Where's my father? WHERE'S GANER?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?" I felt like crying, but I couldn't. Not here, in my father's house.

The priest looked nonplussed, though I was now shouting in his face. "Unfortunately, my son, I can only answer one of those. My name is Father Octavio Hulk. I have been a preacher for St. Eva for over 30 years now. I have been here in this quaint little village about six years. I like it here; it's got a strong sense of bonding and familial connectivity. The congregation is small, true, but that doesn't matter in a house of God. As long as there are believers, he will continue to grant miracles, for he is gracious.

"As for your father, Ganer, errrr…well, I'm terribly sorry, but I don't have the slightest idea who or where he is. And I assure you thus that I have had nothing to do with his disappearance."

I had calmed down a little by then, but I still felt ready to snap at any second. "Well, he used to preach here. That is, he was the preacher before I went to the back mountain and took a nap there."

"Hmmm. That's very strange, my son. He was the preacher, and then you went to the back mountain, took a nap, came back, and now he's gone?

"Yes, sir."

"Strange…very strange. I will keep my eyes open for him."

"Thank you, sir."

"What is your name?"

"Ryu Bateson."

"Ryu…sounds familiar…"

"Sir? Do you know me?"

"No, I do not think so.

"Oh."

"It just sounds like a name I have heard before, a name I should know. It's the name of someone famous, I know that. But what he is famous for, I can't remember."

"Don't worry too much about it, sir. It's just a name."

"Yes, you're right. Anyways, lad, do you need a place to stay for the night? Or possibly longer? You are an orphan, after all; someone needs to take care of you." I hadn't even had a chance to reply before he went on. "Well, you can be assured St. Eva will never turn away orphans such as yourself, even if you are thieves." He said that last part the same way as he did the rest of his speech, but there was something about it that made me angry. He sensed my disapproval, for he quickly added, "Not that I'm saying you are one. It's just that so many of the orphans we take in are little more than thieves. I'm sorry if I offended you."

I shook my head. "It's all right, sir. It's understandable you thought that."

"Thank you, Ryu. Anyways, there's a spare bed upstairs. However, you will have a roommate. I don't know his name, but he looks like a dog. Take that as you will." I must have put a confused expression on my face then, for the priest laughed and said "Hahaha. I thought you would be a little perplexed. You'll see what I mean soon. Anyways, go on up, get some sleep. You need it. So, good night, young man, and welcome to the Church of St. Eva in Gate. Enjoy your stay with us."

I thanked him profusely and went upstairs. The light was already out, but I had good enough night vision to confirm that the priest was telling the truth. My roomie was indeed a dog-boy, a juvenile member of the rare Grass Runner clan. I had never seen one before, but this guy looked nice enough, in contrast to the descriptions I had heard of them being untamed, wild beasts, little more than monsters. Being careful not to disturb him, I crept into my bed (_my old bed_, I thought) and turned over onto my normal position on the side in an attempt to get some sleep.

However, my companion appeared to be restless. Soon after I had gotten in, he had heaved himself over the side of the bed. He looked around quickly with a distasteful look on his face and, apparently not seeing anything worthwhile, began heading for the stairs, muttering agitatedly all the while. I figured he was probably doing something bad (or else why would he want to leave?) and so myself jumped out of bed and blocked his way. I was all prepared to ask him what he was doing when he looked at me and grinned. "Hi buddy!" he said excitedly. "How are you doing? Are you what I am: a thief pretending to be an orphan?" I shook my head. "No? You really are an orphan? Sorry about that, man. Hey, you want to come with me? This place is a dump; all it had worth stealing was a dinky candle. Anyways, how about this? We'll leave and explore the world, become a couple of first-rate adventurers and thieves, let the wind take us where she may. Whadya say man?"

I thought about it carefully, weighing my options. _If I stayed here, with no family and everyone hating me because they think I'm a troublemaker and a thief, I truly would have no future, but I would be safe, thanks to the church. If I left, though, it would be incredibly dangerous, but fun as well. I_ made up my mind in a split second after thinking on it. "Okay, dude, let's hit the road. I'm Ryu Bateson, nice to meet you." And I held out my hand to shake the other boy's.

The dog-boy grinned and took my hand in his own. "I'm Bow. Just Bow is all you need to know. It's good to finally meet another kid. I'll hope you'll enjoy the ride, Ryu, cause it's gonna be one sweet motha." And with that, we went down the stairs, out the church, and past the arches into the wide world beyond.

Oh! Finally! Freedom at last! No more of Gate! No more of being told to do this and that by the stupid townspeople! I was finally free from their cloying presence! Yeah, I missed my father and Yua, but you know what? I would find them eventually, when I would be out exploring the world, and then we would all be happy again. But right then, I simply could not dwell on the negative, not when such a great thing had happened. Yes yes yes! Life was definitely looking up!

As we walked out onto the open fields, me with a slightly more giddy bounce to my step than my newfound buddy's, Bow turned and looked at me strangely. "Ryu? You all right? You look really happy. Too happy, as a matter of fact. All we've done is get out of the village. Was it that bad to you or what?"

I could see Bow was honestly perplexed, so I decided to explain to him my situation as quickly as possible. "Yes, Bow, that's exactly it. You see, I've been trapped in that mind-numbingly boring town for the last three years now, and it has been hell for me to live through. And now, I've finally been freed from the horrible grasp of Gate, and I get to see the world, something I've been waiting a long time to do. So, jah, I am happy, man. Don't mind me, though. I'll try not to let my enthusiasm interfere with our journey."

Bow grinned. "It's cool, Ryu. A little enthusiasm never hurt anything. But just try to keep it toned down, is all I ask." I nodded. "Good. Now, are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?" I gave him a wide grin, and nodded happily. "Great; so am I. It's been a while since the last time I've had one," he said, and as he did so, began to sniff the air. I was a little confused at first, but then I also sensed something with my innate powers. Dang it; I knew something like this would happen. It always does when something awesome happens to me. A rain storm was headed our way, and by the feel of things, it would be a big one. And sure enough, before we could move one step further, it began to pour. A lot. With no thought at all, both of us, little legs pumping furiously, began running wildly north, where Bow had mentioned something earlier about a cave.

We made it in, thoroughly drenched. Unfortunately, it was pitch black, I'm talking like black as all hell, and not even I, with my advanced night vision, could see in this enveloping darkness (_much like in my dream_, I thought). However, luckily, my buddy had an idea to get us out of the dark: the candle he had swiped from the church. He looked up at me and grinned. "Boy, it sure was lucky I thought to bring this candle, eh, Ryu?" He lit it with a match he had in his back pocket, and we proceeded forward cautiously.

However, we had not gotten very far (only about 3 or 4 steps, actually), when both of us saw the sharpened end of what appeared to be a very long and dangerous looking tail. It seemed to sense our presence and moved away, scales dragging noisily along the ground. I gulped, having a very bad feeling about what was attached to that tail. Bow was excited about it, though, the twit. "Hey, man! Let's follow that thing and see where it leads! How about it? It can be our first task!" I nodded slowly, intent on being cautious about this thing even if Bow wasn't, and we went off, him in the lead, me a safe distance behind.

There appeared to be no end in sight. The cave seemed to keep stretching, like some big mouth, and the tail was kept tantalizingly close for a bit, and would then move away. I could just picture whatever it was attached to laughing maniacally every time it did that. Eventually, though, the tail stopped moving. I looked over at Bow, shrugged, and proceeded forward. I learned in just a second that I should not have.

There, standing in the cavern, was the biggest monster I had ever laid eyes on, and even now, after having seen hundreds of different creatures, it still holds that distinction. I mean, it was absolutely HUGE! Its torso was separated by what appeared to be a lump of flesh from its bottom half, and each half I estimated to be about 10 feet high when the creature stood up. Of course, it had to hunch to fit in the cavern, but it still towered far above our puny forms. There was a hard, grayish shell surrounding the entire body, which looked like it could repel any attack. It did have more than a few dents in it, though; I suspected that many a warrior had tried without success to down the demon—I did not, however, want to envision what had happened to them, for I feared that would be happening to Bow and I real soon if we weren't lucky. On its head, it had three large, ugly, yellow eyes, two on the sides and one above them and in the middle of the face. There were sharpened fins jutting out of the back of its head and its back, like those growing off a fish, as well as six crab-like legs, three on each side. Its neck looked like that of a snake's body; it was all coiled back, ready to strike forward at any moment. Its tail looked to be about the length of its body, and it was covered with small, razor-sharp ridges. Its hands were armed with green spikes; possibly poisoned, judging from the color, but anything that sharp was deadly enough by itself without the addition of poison. Overall, it looked to be a very bad monster indeed.

I saw Bow drop his jaw open in amazement and horror upon spotting the creature. He had time to yell out "Oh Ladon! It's a demon! Run, Ryu, run!" before the creature, whatever it was, knocked him to the wall with one flick of its powerful tail. He slid down and lay very still.

I quelled a tremendous urge to rush to my injured friend's side, and instead faced the hideous monster, intent on getting revenge, insane as that might sound. It seemed to grin at me, evilly at that, and I could feel immense dark energy coursing from that smile. This was not false evilness—it was pure hatred. "Are you the destined child?" the creature roared down to me. "You are the one I was talking to earlier? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! You're just a boy. Probably not even a whelp yet, let alone a Kaiser. I see my master greatly overestimated your threat! Had he but known, I never would have had to degrade myself and talk with you. You present no danger to us! Not now, and after today, not ever! Hahahahaa!!!" As he was booming out his taunts, I surreptitiously slipped my hand down to my waist and untied the string that held my small weapon. However, he noticed what I was doing, though he was still laughing it up. "Ah-ha, I see you are unsheathing your sword! Getting ready to fight me, eh… no wait, it's just a stick! Ahahahahahaha! You are quite amusing, boy. What can you possibly hope to do against my God?" He continued to roar with laughter at me, and I stood quaking with fear, mouthing as many prayers as I could remember to Ladon.

"Now," he said a few seconds later, all the laughter gone and his tone deadly serious. "Enough with the games. My master calls, and I must have something to present for the day's work. So, come, Ryu, show me the vaunted power of the destined child! Show me the power that will make our God tremble! Show me the power that will shake the foundations of the world and make everyone remember the days of the dragons! SHOW ME!!!"

As the monster finished its speech, it reacted with a speed greater than I could have imagined such a huge creature possessing. It moved quickly forward, knocking me to the ground and causing me to throw my stick away, and then, as I was sitting up, still ready to fight, raised one of its arms and fired a shockwave of enormous energy at me. I felt it hit me, felt my body absorb the impact, felt that I was very close to death. I was conscious just long enough to hear the creature taunt me again, asking me once again (in that very scary voice of its) to show it my power, the power of the destined child (whatever that is, I thought). I heard something more about God, and then, mercifully, collapsed into the welcome oblivion…

10 years pass…


	2. Pig Hunt

Searching for a Missing Pet

"Hey Ryu! Get your lazy butt out of bed already! The Elder's been calling for us the last ten minutes to go downstairs and see him. Said something about a special meeting. I have a feeling this will be our big chance, man! We're finally getting to do something big, and then we can move up in the rankings, and then get to do cool stuff like John and Colin. We'll get to travel the world like we've always wanted to. Right, Ryu? Huh? Come on. Let's go!" Bow was obviously quite excited about the opportunity to see some action, and I couldn't blame him. We had been rangers for over a year and had done diddly squat. I wasn't so enthusiastic as he was, though. I knew from talking to the other, more experienced rangers that the first task you get is usually pointless and a waste of time. But, if you did good, it meant you could get better stuff on your next mission.

"Ugh," I offered as my morning greeting. I hated this ranger crap with a passion, but hey, at least it was good money for guys like me and Bow, slackers who never furthered our education much past the high school level. Plus, we got to leave Hometown quite often for our training, which was a good thing, because that place was almost as boring as Gate. It was bigger, that was true, but bigger did not mean better in that case. It sucked there, plain and simple. There was a rich man's house (and quite a mean guy he was, too), a magic school (which neither Bow or I could attend, because we weren't cool enough, I guess), a couple of shops (with terrible selections), the ranger outpost (where I spent most of my time), our house (that wasn't even our own; we shared it with a terminally sick mother and her bratty kid), a church (that we never attended, since it was of the St. Eva variety), and a few more houses. And that was it. A truly terrible place to have spent the last 10 years, but it could have been worse. I could have been stuck in Gate all that time. That makes me shudder just to think about it.

And now, since I didn't really give a proper greeting to you when we were first introduced, here's a little about me. My name, I believe I already told you, but I'll tell you again. I'm Ryu Bateson, a blue-haired (don't ask, I was told it came from my mother's side) small-town boy, who's the son of a preacher (or pastor or rabbi or leader or whatever you want to call it- I prefer preacher myself). My father was the local hero of Gate after he helped that huge dragon I mentioned earlier defeat a monstrous demon that invaded the town and who would have laid waste to everything had my father and the dragon not stopped him. I was just a little kid of nine when I was first introduced to you, but now I'm a strapping lad of 19. I seem to possess incredible power, which I came to suspect after I did not die from that shockwave I received from that huge monster 10 years ago. That incredible power is strange, too, for I keep receiving weird feelings on a regular basis. It's like I'm supposed to know what it is, but I don't. I have a hunch I will figure it out soon enough. Maybe this quest will give me an idea. I doubt it, but there's always a chance. Anyways, back to my life. My mom was murdered, or so I'm told, by the demon. I don't really remember her very well, but I sure do miss her. I don't like to dwell on that, so I'll skip it for now. Getting back to me, I am an excellent swordsman, at least in my mind (ask anyone else and they'll probably tell you otherwise, especially Bow…but they're all just jealous). I'm considered a fairly cool guy by my peers, though I rarely talk much, mostly because I consider most people to be too stupid to have any type of discussion with them. I have few friends, Bow being the only one I completely trust. Currently, I am single, and have no intention of getting a girlfriend/wife anytime soon. Of course, that might change at any time, so I'll be flexible in that case. But, eh, whatever. Anyways, that's me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed hearing the details.

And, oh yeah, one other thing I forgot to mention. I'm the owner of one of the coolest gadgets I've even seen: A Dragon's Tear. What it does is tell me the emotions of the person I'm talking to. Pretty cool, huh? Yes, I thought so. Anyways, it changes color anytime the person's emotions change. Darker colors mean the person is angry or upset with me or the world in general, with black being the worst you can get. Anytime a person's emotions registers a black on my Tear, I usually get the heck away from them. Lighter colors, of course, mean the person is in a good mood, with rainbow being the best of them; I rarely meet anybody that makes the Dragon's Tear turn light. Bow was the last person to have registered a really light color on the Dragon's Tear, and of course I met up with him 10 years ago. Shows you what kind of people I hang around with.

Back to the main thingy. Bow was blabbing about some quest the Elder wanted us to go on, and since I had never been on one, I figured I might as well check it out. Hopefully it was something at least remotely interesting and not something stupid.

I got up, gave a huge yawn, scratched myself, and wandered over to the sink, where I proceeded to wash up. After drying myself off, I flipped a comb through my hair so that it returned to its usual spiky formation. Okay, now I was ready. I nodded to Bow to signal we could leave the house now. He returned the gesture and headed downstairs at a near run. I shuffled off slowly, quite a bit less enthusiastically than Bow. I wasn't feeling all that great, but I felt confident I could handle my first ranger assignment without complaint.

I made my way to the ranger outpost, located in a "secret" downstairs area close to my home. When I got there, Bow was already talking to the Elder, and kept waving his arms about. I wandered over there. "What's up, Bow? Found out what our job is yet?"

He gave me a very sour look and rolled his eyes. I had a bad feeling about what it was. The Elder looked over in my direction. "Ryu! Just the man I wanted to see!" he exclaimed in that gravelly voice of his that I hate. "I was just giving Bow here the lowdown on your assignment. I realize it's a little, shall we say, embarrassing, but then again, these first tasks always are. Anyways, here it is."

He slid a piece of paper over the table. I grabbed it and looked it over. "You must find a pet," I read aloud. "A PET?! What kind of moron loses a pet? And why are we, as rangers, supposed to find it? That's not even our line of business. Give this to those dogcatchers (no offense, Bow) or people like that. We're important people here. We should be out hunting demons or saving townspeople from terrible fates, not rescuing pets. Who dared to approach you with such an outlandish request? Why, I oughta…"

Someone's throat cleared in the background. "Uh, excuse me, sir, I did," a small voice piped up. I gritted my teeth in embarrassment; I shouldn't have shouted like that. I turned around, ready to apologize, and who did I see but Mina, princess of Windia and one of Bow's many love interests, along with two of her winged escorts. I rolled my eyes very slightly and gave a little groan. I should've known it was Mina who lost her pet. She was well-known for being quite absent-minded. But, no matter. I knew now we were stuck taking the job, for Bow would want to find her pet just to impress her, the dolt.

Just as I expected, Bow seemed to grow quite a bit more excited. "Mina!" he said happily. "What's up? Yes, you see, since Ryu and I are such great rangers, we're going to rescue your pet, aren't we, Ryu?" I was very tempted to shake my head no, but I refrained. "In fact, we're heading out right now! Right, Ryu? Say, Mina, what kind of a pet is it?"

Mina looked up at him and smiled. "Actually, Bow, it's not what you're expecting. It's actually a pig. Suzy's her name, and I'm really upset over her disappearance. I hope you find her soon." And she turned aside and went to chat with the Elder, followed along by her stony faced guards.

I looked over at Bow, who had an expression of horror on his face. Clearly, he was not expecting the words "a pig" to come out of his beloved's mouth. I could have told him otherwise, though. Oh well. He had a lot to learn about women and the way they work. Just when you thought you had them figured out, they pulled out something crazy from their bag of tricks. Heck, even I knew that, and I was a rookie compared to Bow in the art of women. I motioned for him to come over near the stairs.

When he got there, I turned and waved to the Elder, faking as much cheerfulness as I possibly could. "Good-bye, sir. We shall return, pig in hand, very soon. Mina, don't worry, no one will have tried to eat your little piggy. It will be fine. Well, farewell to all of you!" Mina and the Elder both waved, but the guards remained as stock still as before. Sometimes I hated those guys.

We went up the stairs and back into the stifling atmosphere of Hometown. I was gonna be glad to get out of here, hopefully for at least a few days. I had no idea how long these first assignments usually took, but I did wish that this one would last a while.

We exited out the main entrance to Hometown, bidding Herb, the guard stationed there, a good-bye before we left. We asked him about the pig, but he denied knowing anything about any such thing. "Now," he said, "I have seen plenty of wild pigs hanging around outside, but none that bore any collars or distinguishing marks that a pet pig should. Sorry I couldn't be of more help, boys." We nodded to indicate we understood, and then went out into the wide world beyond. We were finally going to start our adventures. And not a moment soon enough, either.

Ah! I love that smell of grass in an open field, and since the whole land portion of the world (practically) was grass, I was going to be enjoying that smell quite a bit. Here we were, two rookies on their first quest. We accomplish this, and who knows? We might be on the road to becoming the next great rangers, or maybe even something better. But first, we had to focus on the task at hand, and not start getting ahead of ourselves.

Now, there weren't too many places to go that a pig had easy access to. As a matter of fact, there was only two: far to the east, where the gladiator town of Coursair lay, or to the south, where Mt. Fubi was. I decided to ask Bow where we should go. "Yo, Bow. You want to go to Coursair or Mt. Fubi? Either one the pig could have gone to, but I'm leaning towards the mountain. What do you say?"

Bow thought for a bit, his doggish face scrunched up in contemplation. He opened his mouth several times, and then closed it just as quickly each time. Finally, he gave me an answer. "Well, I say first we head for Coursair. Don't know why, but it just sounds better. But, if that's a no go, we come back to this side of the bridge and go to the mountain. That good?

"Jah," I voiced. I had always been curious as to what was over there on the other side of the bridge. I'd never been over; I was always told it was too dangerous. Now was my big chance to find out. I gave him a nod and we set off.

Unfortunately for us, we had forgotten about the one big (actually, several) obstacle(s) that would be trying to kill us at every step. Monsters. Dang, how I hate them. Ever since my first traumatic experience with one, I had harbored fear for them, which had lessened over the years, but which was still present. Now, one, a slimy, green goo with two little eyes popping over its body, seemingly coming from nowhere, slammed into Bow. I drew my weapon, which was still a stick, sadly, albeit a much thicker one (okay, the official title was a "staff", as the Elder told me when he gave it to me, but I still called it a stick). We had encountered plenty of these Eye Goos, as they were known, in our previous sojourns outside the village; they were easy to beat, but could still be quite bothersome, especially in groups. I breathed in quickly, and charged it. Looking up from where it was sitting, getting ready for another attack, it squeaked in surprise and began to hop off. Not so fast, sucker, I thought, and as I did, made a slash at it. The blow only served to slice off an eye, which it quickly re-grew. I looked down at my stick. Man, this thing was useless. I glanced up and my eyes flew to Bow, who was still down on the ground. "Bow!" I yelled. "Get your stupid crossbow out already! You know my stick is no good against these guys. Get up, get up, get uuuuuuuupp!" As I was finishing my speech, the monster charged me this time, and seeing as how I had been talking to Bow and thus pretty defenseless, I was knocked to the ground. I got up, shaking my head, and started waving crazily at Bow. If he didn't hurry up, we would both get beaten, and I did not want to get my butt handed back to me by a stupid slime. Bow grinned, unsheathed his crossbow, fitted a bolt to it, and let fire. The bolt struck the monster right in the heart, and it collapsed, twitching a little, but dead.

I sighed. That was way too much trouble for such a little thing. "Hey, Bow, next time, why don't you try killing it before it attacks me, like I said to? Jeez, man, you have got to pay more attention to what I say. It's for a reason, ya know? Jeez…" I let it go at that and wandered over to where the monster was and kicked at its carcass. Nothing. Dammit, all that trouble and not even a herb. That sucked. Oh well. There was a lesson there, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. "Come on, Bow, let's get moving. I want to get to Coursair before it gets dark."

He bowed his head. "Agreed, Ryu. I'm sorry I couldn't help sooner. I guess my mind wasn't completely focused yet. I swear, next time will be different." He walked over to me and clapped me hard on the back, sending me stumbling forward slightly. I hated it when he did that. "Come on, let's go, as you say. I want to get back before Mina leaves."

I nodded. "Let's move."

--------------------

"Ladon damnit, Bow," I yelled, some time later. "I told you, let's go to the mountain. But, nooooo, Bow knows best, I guess. You had to drag us across the bridge and into unknown, highly dangerous territory, and for what? I knew the other bridge would be locked up, but you just had to "go with your heart." Idiot. Now we've wasted two hours on nothing. Good job, man." I was thoroughly pissed off now.

Bow looked over at me. "Man, what the heck are you talking about? You were the one who asked me if I wanted to go to Coursair or not, and when I said yes, you agreed with me! And you didn't say nothing otherwise. And now you're saying I'm the only one who was for it. Quit acting so damned superior Ryu. It's just not your style. It was a simple mistake on both our parts. Yes, we almost got killed, but who cares? We're alive, aren't we? And what fun is a first quest without some semblance of danger? And there is a healing spring over at the mountain, which we are going to right now. So quit your bitching and get over here. We have a pig to find." With those words, Bow turned away and stalked away angrily.

By now, we had come back to our side of the bridge. We figured out mighty quick it was far more dangerous on the Coursair side than ours. I mean, right off the bat, we got nearly gored (twice!) by some purple, horned, demon pig. After that, we ran. We practically blazed a new trail, going as fast as we were, and didn't stop until we got to the upper bridge. And, lo and behold, there's a guard there. A Windian guard, at that. And guess what? He was looking for someone named Nina. But that wasn't the important part. The thing is, he was just standing there with this stupid expression on his face, as if he's just waiting for this person to come along by. He wasn't moving a muscle. Bow and I tried to persuade him to move, but no dice. We talked briefly about using force, but decided against it. We figured he wouldn't move no matter what we did, so we gave up. We went back down, and found that a whole congregation of the demon pigs had gathered around us. We looked at each other for a second, bowed our heads in a quick prayer to Ladon, and made a dash for it. If we were going fast before, boy, we were flying now. We still got some nicks and scrapes by those evil horns, but still managed to get out in relatively one piece. But now, we were arguing with each other. I wanted to drop it, so I did. I followed my buddy up to where he stood at the foot of the mountain.

We looked up. It was quite imposing, really. Being that it was the only mountain range around for miles, I had gotten plenty of glimpses of it, but none this close. We needed to be very careful climbing it. One false step and we could easily fall. I gulped. "All right, Bow, ready?"

He nodded. "I'm ready, man." He shut his eyes tightly. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Yep." And we set off up the winding path.

We had not gotten very far, though, when Bow stopped. He looked around, puzzled. "Uh, did you say something, Ryu?" he tossed over his shoulder. He gripped his crossbow tightly.

"Um, no. At least, I don't think so. Why, did you hear something, Bow? Voices, perhaps? That might be a sign you're going crazy."

"Hmmmm, maybe. But I doubt it. Just a funny feeling, I guess. Nervous, is all I am. Not crazy."

I rolled my eyes, confident he wouldn't see me, since I was in the back. Bow had a very acute sense of hearing, true, but then, so did I. And if he heard something, then I should have too. But I hadn't, so I doubted the veracity of his claim. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. I loosened my stick a little from its sheath.

A little way from the path where Bow heard the voices was the entrance to the mountain caves. There were a lot of these caves, but all of them lead to where we needed to go: the west side of Mt. Fubi. We headed up into the caves ready for anything.

Bow turned out to be right, after all. There was a healing spring in here, and while it looked like ordinary water, it was more of an elixir than anything else. Above it, there was fixed to the wall a stone dragon head, which served as the vessel the water poured out of. It appeared to be modeled after the Dragon God statue, which, by law, was required to be present in every town, regardless of whether or not that town worshipped the Dragon God.

After resting a little at the spring, we made ready to get started again. I knew if we waited longer, we would get sucked into a zone, where everything is peachy and you never want to leave it. It sounds weird, but it's true. I've seen it happen to people.

Now, I should point out here we were not climbing the mountain in the tradition sense as one might think of climbing a mountain, with ropes and helmets and pulleys an such, but rather more like a spiral. And we weren't going up, either, but rather sideways. Or at least trying to.

We started hoofing it, and were making good time climbing. But, just when we were going along, with no problems, I found something both interesting and revolting. Some guy, evidently, had tried to scale the mountain, the same way we were. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. His skeleton was a little off the beaten path, but still very noticeable. That is not what caught my eye, though. Rather, it was the fact that he had something on him which I was most envious of: a sword. An actual, metal sword. I had been wanting one for ages, but just didn't have the cash. Now, I finally had my hands on one. I realize I probably shouldn't steal from the dead, but I couldn't resist this time. I took my stick off its usual place on my belt, looked at it distastefully, and threw it over my head. I then tied the sword around my belt. It looked like it belonged there. Now I was set.

It was tough work, mainly because of the stupid mountain air, which makes it really hard to breathe without special equipment. When we made it outside of the cavern we were presently in (the one with the spring), we felt relieved. We were halfway there But then Bow started up with his "hearing voices" junk again. He wouldn't say what they said, but I had a feeling they were saying some scary stuff. I looked over at him. "I'm sorry you're getting this feelings, Bow. I'm sure it's tough, but we're almost to the other side, and then they'll leave."

"Yeah. Probably." He was still scared, I could tell, but now he was feeling better. We climbed a few more feet, and then something strange happened. **I **started to hear some voices. It sounded like they were counting down something. I've learned that that never bodes well.

And then, high above us, out of the clear blue sky, came three female bird creatures. I knew what these were. They were harpies, rare human-bird hybrids that were renowned for their viciousness and cruelty. I had a bad feeling about these guys, but no matter. They wouldn't be that hard to deal with (hopefully). After all, now I actually had a real sword. I drew this now and prepared to fight.

The trio had arrived at our level now, though they were still floating several feet about the ground. I studied them quickly. They were covered with purple feathers, and all had red hair on top of their horned heads. They had sharp claws on their feet as well, and were looking at us with a strange glint in their eyes. Their bodies were small, but their huge wings granted them an intimidating presence. And, of course, the fact that we were outnumbered three to two made me a little nervous, but not enough to completely break down.

The center one looked down at us. "Hey, gals! Looks like we got ourselves a nice little catch here!" She turned and grinned at me. I had a bad feeling they were going after me first and would pick on Bow later.

I turned and faced my buddy. "Bow. Whatever you do, don't mess this up. They're probably going to attack me and only me at first, so while I hold them enough, I want to fire as many bolts as you possibly can. Got that? I want you to cover my butt as best as you can."

He nodded. "You got it, Ryu. You can count on me!" And, then, to my surprise, he scrabbled away. I watched him as he climbed behind a big rock, and then I understood. He would take cover there and pick them off without fear of harm. A smart move, if a little selfish, for it left to deal with three at once. I felt confident that I could handle it, though.

The leader was still looking at us. "Peach, Puti, ignore the dog-boy. Only go for the blue-haired one. He looks cute. Now, attack!"

Cripes. They were heading straight for me, with those claws aimed at my throat. This was not looking good. I steadied my grip on my sword and swung blindly for all I was worth.

"Uhhhghhghgh!" Yes, I had hit one! I opened my eyes (I had closed them so the harpies wouldn't poke my eyeballs out) and looked around. There, on the ground, was one of them, missing most of her left wing. The other two were crowded around her anxiously. I decided to take this opportunity to take care of them. "Hey, Bow, hit her, would you? I want to get out of here."

"Uh, right, Ryu." Bow popped up, loaded his bow (the dolt didn't even have it ready; he would have gotten killed if they had gotten me), and fired at the closest one. With a cry, she slid down to the ground to join her sister (?), a bolt sticking out of her chest.

I felt a little bad ordering Bow to take her out while she was just looking at her sister and not doing anything to us, per say. However, now was not a time for emotions to crowd my judgment. There was still one left, and since she was the leader, she was likely to be the strongest. But now, it was a two-on-one battle, so victory was almost assuredly in our grasp.

"Bow, fire at will," I said, as I was creeping closer to where she had stationed herself. Man, I hate killing girls, especially ones as hot as this one, but hey, when they try to kill you, you gotta lay the smack down, ya know? I drew my sword, and then hesitated for just a second. She was hardly even moving. She was just flapping her wings, staring straight ahead. I had a feeling we had messed up her when we killed her sisters in front of her.

"Uh, hang on a sec, Bow, don't fire just yet," I told him. If she was truly "gone" (at least her mind), then there was no way I could kill her. No, we'd take her and then dump her off in some town to be healed, and then release her. "Help me carry her, would you?"

Bow hopped over the lip of the rock he was hiding behind, approaching me cautiously. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "She tried to kill us. And you want to take her with us? Get a grip, man! I mean, look at THAT!"

As Bow finished, I turned to see what had caused him to accentuate that last word. The harpy had snapped out of her little phase rather quickly, and was now looking down at us with a maniacal glint in her eyes. I stared back, keeping my hand on the hilt of my blade, for I had put it back in its sheath.

Suddenly, she uttered a high-pitched shriek, one which caused my eardrums to ring like bells. I was momentarily stunned, and she took this opportunity to dive in and began clawing the hell out of me. Luckily, I was armored, but unfortunately she figured that out fast and targeted my face. I started beating her with one hand while I drew my sword out; but I forgot, it was of the two-handed variety. I succeeded in drawing it out, but its weight caused me to drop it almost immediately.

When she saw my weapon, the harpy dived for it. Still thinking I was under attack, I kept beating the air, until Bow grabbed me and shook my shoulders. "Ryu! She's not there anymore! You can stop now!" I ceased, and then looked around, and see that little stinker had got my sword in her talons and was now attempting to fly off.

Luckily, Bow was to my rescue. He took careful aim, waiting until she was in his crosshairs, and then fired. The bolt sizzled through the air and made contact with one of her legs, neatly slicing it off. Through the ensuing flow of blood, I could discern that she had begun to fall. However, as we got closer, she flew back off again, this time albeit my sword. She was weakened, though, and did not get far before another bolt flew through the air and struck her in the chest. That brought her to a screeching halt, and she flopped out of the air, striking the ground and giving a few twitches before finally becoming still.

Finally. It was over. Jeez. That took forever. I turned to Bow. "Hey, man, you good?" He didn't look it. His fur was matter and wet in several areas, and his breathing was laborious. His hands were also shaking, and he appeared on the verge of collapse.

He also shifted his gaze to me. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said in a weak voice that made me distrust him. But if he said so, I was down with it. "Are you? That crazy thing was clawing you like crazy."

"Yeah. I'm fine. All right then, let's get out of here. I think we're close to the exit, and there should be a shack around here we can stay at. Come on."

He nodded and resumed his walk with me up the mountain, pausing to look at the body of the harpy he had killed. I knew Bow hated to kill injured things, but in this case, she had been too dangerous to leave alive.

As we made it to the bottom of where we were at, it became clear we could not get to the exit unless we found another way, for there was a straight 30 foot drop down. Shoot. I had been hoping for an easy way out. I guess there are no real shortcuts in life.

So, now we had to search for an alternate path. There was a cave at the top, and that appeared to be the only place forward. We went up there, and found a disappointing sight.

There blocking the cave, was a rock, about 5 feet high and looking to weigh about 100-200 pounds. We would have to push it to get in. "Let's go, Bow. We gotta push!" And I began shoving with all my might. As did Bow. Together we pushed the thing off the edge in about 10 seconds. However, doing that turned out to be a stupid thing.

By pushing this "little" rock over the edge, we had aggravated a much larger boulder that was directly below. The rock we'd pushed, I observed, flew down and cracked itself on the much larger rock below it, causing a massive swaying by the other rock. Bow and I held our breath for a sec, because if that boulder fell, we might get trapped here.

And darn it all, fall it did. The boulder rocked precariously for a few more seconds, and then began rolling over the side of the mountain. We rushed over to the other side of where we were standing to get a better look.

There it was, bouncing along like some rubber ball. It knocked itself up against the walls a few times, and then landed on a ledge (right about the first cave we went in). We gulped and continued to watch.

Then came a scene I was not expecting. For some reason, one of the many fish merchants who inhabit our world was wandering up the entrance path. Just as he was about to enter the cave, he looked up, and saw something terrifying. The boulder was shaking everywhere, and suddenly it collapsed the ledge. The fishman was staring at it as it did so, and then, as soon it broke through, he took off running (no, he didn't have flippers). The boulder began to roll, and it seemed to home in on him, but since he had a head-start, he was able to outrun it.

As we saw that, we cracked up. "Oh, man, that was so funny," Bow said. "Did you see the way that guy hightailed it out of here when he saw that thing? Ladon, not since you tried to ask that one chick out a couple of years back have I laughed so hard. That was classic, just like this."

I stopped laughing and smiled sickly. I didn't like being reminded of my dating blunders, but Bow just loved to rub it in. He always thought he was so smooth, but I knew better. I decided to change the subject. "Hey, look at that. That stupid boulder caused a landslide. Our spring's covered up now. We're going to have one heck of a time getting back now!"

Bow was still chuckling. "Oh, that's okay, Ryu. I'm sure we'll find a way out of here. Everything will be all right. You'll see. Come on, let's go." And with that, he headed into the hole the rock had been covering up.

I sighed and followed him in. We walked for a while, finally in peace, but that was soon dispelled when we found an intriguing item in a chest. It was a little something called a firerock, and it appeared to glow with some unknown substance. I was just about to throw it on the ground to see if it would do something, but Bow grabbed my hand just before I did so. He shook his head. "Ryu, you have to learn not to just throw everything around that you find. If you had succeeded in chucking that thing, we would have been burnt to a crisp. Be thankful I was here, cause if I wasn't, I wouldn't have a best friend anymore. Be forever vigilant, Ryu, and you might live a long time." He gave me a stern glance and walked ahead. I muttered some choice words under my breath, and then ran to catch up with him.

Now that everything had really calmed down, I had the opportunity to talk some with my pal. I found Bow was ready to leave Hometown, same as me, and he hoped the Elder would give us a better job next time. Much as he wanted to impress Mina by finding her pet, he realized the next person to lose a pet and expect us to find it would in all likelihood not be someone he wanted to please, thus causing him job dissatisfaction. So, in effect, he wanted to leave the village, or, if we were forced to stay, force the Elder to give us a better duty next time. I was with him all the way. Bow was finally getting some backbone; I had been working with him to get some for the past 10 years, so I had hoped he would have picked up on my tips. "Yeah, Bow," I began, "I'm glad you're thinking that way now. I'm proud of you. Think about this. John, Colin, and the rest of the veterans have been on the force for years and years, and it took them a very long time to get where they are. Now, if we work as long as them, we'll be old when we get good jobs. And I do not want to. So, I say we make our own path in life. Leave Hometown and let the wind take us where she may. How about thaaaaaaaAHHHHHHHHHH…!!!" Blast. What was a hole doing in the middle of a mountain?

We fell for a bit, probably a good 15 feet, and since I was in the lead, I had Bow land on me. That was not a pleasant feeling. "Oof. Get off me, you big lug." He was causing me to have trouble breathing. "Jeez, where are we, man? Are we at the bottom?" He shrugged.

I looked around. We were in a small cavern, and standing directly in front of me, was a man. He looked fairly normal, so that I was happy about. He smiled and beckoned us over. I went, leaving Bow on the ground. If he wanted to join, he could.

"Hey, what's up, old man? Whatcha doing down here in this smelly hole? You a bum or something like that?"

He laughed. "No, son. I'm a hunter. My name is Azusa. Now, before you ask what a hunter is doing down in a mountain cavern, let me tell you something. I was hunting an animal, one of the most elusive in the whole world. It's something called a white-skinned deer. Have you ever heard of one?"

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "No? Well, that's fine," Azusa said. "It's not anything special to look at, really. Basically, it's just a deer with white skin. Kind of self-explanatory, but I figured I'd tell you guys. Anyways, I had him cornered, in the open field, mind you. And then, all of a sudden, he takes off up this mountain. I chased him up as far as I could, which was this far. You see, as you correctly pointed out, I am an old man, and not used to climbing mountains. If you boys need someone to hunt in the field, though, I'm your man. No one can best me! And keep your eyes open for that animal, would you? I'm much obliged to you. Oh, and here. Here's a little something for being the first civilized humans to talk to me in weeks." And he pulled out a roast from behind a pillar near where he was standing. I must have had a surprised look on my face, for he laughed and said "Oh don't worry, son. You can have it. I won't starve. There's plenty more stored up here. Go ahead and enjoy it."

I nodded graciously. "Thank you very much, sir. We will do all that you request, sir, without a doubt. Don't you worry none about it. We'll try to find your animal, and if we ever get a place of our own, we'll be sure to remember you. Thanks very much for the roast. We'll enjoy this later on." And, with a wave, I turned, grabbed Bow, and headed out the cave entrance.

I paused as soon as I got out. I forgot to ask the old-timer something. I popped my head back in. "Hey, Azusa, you haven't by chance seen a pig anywhere around here? Not a wild one, either, but one with a collar on it, bearing the name Suzy. We're looking for it for a friend of ours.

He looked up into the sky, his face revealing he was thinking very hard. He then opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Well, no, I can't say that I have, son. I've seen plenty of wild pigs, and I've killed plenty of them, too. But no pet pig, and certainly not one with a collar, has crossed my path. Sorry I couldn't be of more help." He smiled. "Did you think I had eaten it or something?"

"Huh? Oh, no, sir, I was just wondering. We've been looking for a while, and haven't seen any sign of it. Thanks anyways."

"No problem, sonny. Hope you find it. See you later. Oh, yeah, by the way."

I turned around. "What is it?"

"Well, it's just that close to these mountains is an old man. He's a little crazy, and I've heard he eats whatever he feels like, so you might want to ask him. Just be careful when you do. Got it?"

I nodded and went back out again. As soon as I got outside, Bow turned to me. "Good job, man. Scoring us a free roast and the friendship of some guy who's sure to come in handy. Nice job. I give you props for that." I inclined my head in acknowledgement of this compliment.

He turned to look around. It was getting to be dusk. We'd been in that stupid mountain for about 5 hours. Walking takes a long time, my friends. Suddenly, Bow squinted. Then, a slow smile spread across his face. He pointed over to his left. "Look over there, Ryu."

I turned to look. Then, I too smiled. The rock that had rolled off the ledge and collapsed it had made, for our ease, a path that led straight from the entrance to where we were now in just a few steps. No longer would we have to walk through the whole place to get out. That was great. Maybe now we could make it home before dark. This was the best thing that had happened this whole stinking day.

Bow grabbed my shoulder. "Yo, man, there's the exit. It's just a few steps away. Let's get the heck out of here. I'm tired of this place. Plus, we still haven't found Suzy, and we need to soon. Come on, hurry up!" And he bounded away and down the slope, going so fast I only had time to glimpse his tail before he disappeared from sight. I ran quickly after him, intent on keeping my own with him in terms of footspeed.

Ah! Finally I was out again! I could breathe once more. I felt great. I saw Bow was also enjoying the freedom the open air granted us. I turned to him. "Let's rest here for a bit, Bow. I'm tired."

He shook his head. "No, man, I'm sorry. No can do in this case. We gotta press onwards and upwards. Or else we won't get to finding Suzy before Mina leaves and we'll have to go all the way to Windia to give it to her. That wouldn't be a good idea. Let's go as fast as we can."

I nodded. "Righteous, my good fellow. As you say, let's head out. I'm ready to get my hands on that stupid pig already. Look, over there. There's a house. That could be where that crazy man is who supposedly eats anything. Let's go in and ask him if he's seen Suzy. Be ready for anything, though."

He nodded and drew his crossbow. Likewise, I drew my weapon. We both crept forward, among the trees, inching closer to where the house stood. We could hear some crashes and bumps, and we exchanged a quick glance. Sounded like that guy might be in trouble. I stood up and began walking a little faster.

We made it to the door and now distinctly heard a voice. "Whoa! Someone help me! I'm under attack! It's one of them alien invasions! Help! Help!"

This didn't sound good. We ran forward and burst through the door, expecting some large monster to be awaiting us. Instead we found a shriveled old man huddled in the corner, cowering before… cockroaches? That was weird. I've never seen anyone afraid of cockroaches before. They were larger than normal, yes, but that shouldn't have mattered here. I beckoned to Bow to stay where he was, and went over myself. I lifted my sword and began hacking away. As I expected, the insects failed to last long before my steel, and soon there were 18 neat little cockroach parts strewn along the floor (3 for each; I've learned 2 won't cut it, because one half will still live).

I looked up at the man, and was surprised to find an expression of horror plastered on his face. "Don't come near me. Get away, you hear? You can't have it. It's mine!" And he shrank further back into his hiding spot.

Bow looked at the man quizzically for a second, then turned to me. "What is he so a…fraid…of…? Uh, Ryu, look behind you, will you?"

I turned, expecting another cockroach. And there was another, all right. But this one was quite a different story than the other. It was probably about nine feet long and maybe six wide. It was red-tinted, and that color seemed to reflect its mood right then. I could hear it bristle with anger at us having killed its young. It seemed to be gathering energy for a charge or something like that.

"Bow," I said. "Get ready to fight." I clenched my sword tight in both hands and braced myself for whatever attack was coming.

The roach saw me do this and hung back for a second. While he did, Bow sent a bolt flying at him. Unfortunately, he missed badly. It spanged off the floor two feet in front of the monstrosity and landed in the corner.

I turned and looked at Bow. "Ladon, Bow, how can you miss? It was right in front of you, practically! I brought you along on this journey thinking you could maybe help me, but I guess not… What?"

Bow was now pointing at the monster behind me, signaling it was about to do something. Instinctively, I rolled out of the way. As I did, the monster came barreling forward on all six legs, right in the direction I was standing in a second ago. Now it was less than a foot away from Bow. "Bow! Hit it already! Quit standing around!"

When he looked my way, it was clear he was paralyzed. I shook my head. Perfect time for my partner to get a weak stomach. I hated it when he did this, and he enjoyed pulling this crap every time we went on training. He always wanted me to do all the work. Fine. I was down with that.

As the roach prepared for another charge, I rushed over and began chopping like a crazed woodcutter. The creature's shell was tough, but numerous blows in the same general area eventually weakened it. I could see the spidery lines that always indicate something's about to break start to form, and I knew I was close to victory. But even though I kept pounding, the shell would not break. So, I decided to try a different tactic. Lifting my sword, I twisted it around so that the blade was pointing straight down. I shifted my footing so that the tip was directly over where its heart was. Then, I stabbed down, and was met with a grating whine from the beast. It lifted its body for a second, trying to get free, and then collapsed.

I had known roaches to come back to life, and since I didn't want to trouble myself with this bad boy again, I started slicing and dicing its body up. This time, instead of three pieces, I made it nine, one for each foot of it. But the head I decided to squish flat; no sense taking chances on such a troublesome creature.

With that done, I turned, smiling, to the old man. Bow had finally come undone and was now staring at the dead insect with wide eyes. He looked to me, then back at the creature, and then back at me again, with a frightened look in his eyes. Bow had always been scared of the creep-crawly world, but I guess this one had really gotten to him. I felt sorry for him, but right now there was nothing I could do.

"Hey, old man, you all right?" I asked. He looked at me with wide eyes and nodded quickly. He seemed jumpy, but then, who wouldn't be after having seen a nine foot cockroach in close quarters? "Just calm down, man. It's all over. I took care of the problem. It's cool now."

He stood up slowly from his place in the corner, and stepped gingerly over the remains of the smaller cockroaches to the bigger one. He looked at it and grunted, evidently satisfied it would bother him no more. He turned to me and offered a gnarled hand. I took it. "Sonny, I thank you for what you've done. I've been living this life a long while, and let me tell you, this is the first time I've ever had to combat cockroaches for my food. That was quite an experience; though if it weren't for you guys, I probably would be dead now. For that, we will celebrate. Come on. I found this delicious thing wandering around in the woods, with no one around to help it. I told it, old Niro will help you, oh yes, he will. And, out of the goodness of my heart, and as a thank you, I will give you each a leg. Now, where did I put it? Ah, there it is."

He reached down under the table and brought out a small, very fat pig. I didn't register it at first, but Bow started gibbering wildly, so I figured something was up. The old man looked over at us. "What's up, men? Something wrong? Ah, I bet you're hungry as I am, right? Delirious, I'll bet. Well, no worries. We'll have this little piggy cooked up in no time. The water's ready, and all I need to do is take off this collar of it." With that, he wrenched the collar off, not even bothering to try to be gentle, and carried the animal, squealing loudly all the way, over to his boiling kettle on the other side of the room.

"Hmmm." Bow was evidently a little suspicious of something. "I need to see that collar." He walked over to where Niro had put it and picked it up, turning it over quickly. His eyes then began to bulge, almost comically, and he dropped the collar as if it were white hot and rushed over to where Niro was stewing the pig. "Hey old-timer, stop, hey, stop already! We need that pig! That's the pig we've been looking for, Ryu! That's Suzy! Stop, stop!"

Unfortunately, Niro had already placed Suzy in the kettle before Bow told him not to. So he began running towards it, and he tried desperately to lift Suzy out of the water before she got too warm. However, the water was already boiling, and when he tried to hook his fingers under the pig's belly, he burned them. Screaming and shaking his singed appendages, he gave the cauldron a good kick with his foot.

I looked over just as he did so and saw the pot tipping over precariously. "Bow!" I yelled. "Give it another kick or something! It won't go over until you do!"

"Righto, Ryu." And with that, he lifted his foot and sent a kick hurtling towards the center. With the force of the blow, the cauldron tipped over completely, and as it did so, spilt out all its contents. Of course, Suzy came out, but then so did about 40 gallons of scalding water.

"Bow," I cautioned. "You might want to leave that area now." He looked at me and nodded. He grabbed Suzy first (grimacing in the process), and rushed to where I was.

"Whew. I thought she was a goner for sure." He turned and glared at Niro. "Old man, what were you thinking? When an animal has a collar, that means it belongs to someone, in this case, a special friend of mine. You don't eat other people's pets. Haven't you ever been taught that?" He looked so serious I wanted to laugh, but I knew that wouldn't be a wise choice.

Niro hung his head. "Ah, come on, man, give me a break. I'm starving. I haven't had anything good to eat in weeks. All I get around here is the occasional dog or cat, and I haven't even had one of those lately. Can't I have a little nibble on the legs? Please?"

Bow shook his head. "No. This belongs to Mina, and she will be most upset if I don't return Suzy in perfect condition."

"Rats. Oh, well. One of these days some kind soul will give me food to eat. Maybe…"

I was feeling really bad for the old guy now, so I decided to give him our roast. I pulled it out of my knapsack. "Here you go, Niro. A nice, juicy roast all for you. Enjoy it." And with that, I handed it to him, and turned to leave. "Thanks for finding Suzy for us, Niro. We'll try to come back to visit later."

Bow was looking at me hard for a second, but then relented. "Uh, uh yeah, we will be back later. Enjoy your meal, old man. Have a good day."

"Thank you much, boys. You have no idea how much this means to me. Wow, this is really great. I mean, this is fantastic. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope to see you again soon."

I nodded. "You're welcome, sir. It was our pleasure. Good-bye for now." And we headed out the front door.

As soon as we got outside, Bow turned to me. "Normally, I would be mad at you for giving our only piece of good meat to a complete stranger. But, since I got Suzy back now, I'm in a great mood. You should thank your lucky stars for that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, man. Just shut up and put the pig away. I don't want to hear it the whole way back."

"Right." He drew his own knapsack off and put the squealer in it. "Now, we're ready to go. Come on! We don't got all day."

-----------------

We arrived back in Hometown just as the moon was arriving at its apex. As we arrived, we stopped to take a small breather and make ourselves presentable before we delivered the pig to Mina. Or, at least, Bow did. I just sat down, held the pig, and waited to go in. I was pooped. Going up and down a mountain twice in one day is bad enough, but then throw in two fights against three harpies and seven cockroaches, and a bad spill down the mountain, and you've got yourself a pretty terrible day. Ah, well. It couldn't get worse. That was the only good thing.

"You ready yet, Bow?" I asked wearily. Bow was far too concerned about this. He had no chance with Mina. I knew this, but I didn't want to ruin it for him. I wanted to see what all he would try to do to get with her.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go." He turned to me, silently demanding I release the pig to him, which I did so happily. The stupid animal had been kicking up a big fuss while I had held it; animals just don't like me, for some reason. Bow then ran over to the stairs leading to the ranger outpost and scrambled down as fast as he could go. I sighed and followed, though at not nearly such a fast speed.

By the time I got to the room, Mina was already thanking Bow profusely. I bet that bastard had left me out of the picture completely, even though he had stood like a statue when it came time for battles. But that was okay with me. After all, I wasn't the one trying to impress anyone here. I slid silently over to him and poked him in the back.

He jumped slightly. "And, of course, Mina, Ryu here helped me in my daring rescue of your precious pet. He did a lot of important stuff. If not for him, you would not have hold of Suzy right now. Right, Ryu?"

"Whatever you say," I deadpanned. "This was the Bow show tonight, though, Mina, let me tell you. He was fantastic."

"Oh, really?" she tittered. "Well, I'm sure he wasn't completely alone, right, Bow?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Well, let's just say, I did the most work and leave it at that, all right?"

"Well, all right, Bow." Mina replied. She sighed deeply. "I'm so glad you made it back in time. My guards were telling I have to go very soon."

"Uh, back to where?"

"Why, Windia, of course. Didn't you know?

"No."

"Oh, well, sorry to spring this on you, then. But, I must depart now. Farewell, Bow. Good-bye, Ryu. I thank you both for rescuing my dear Suzy. If you ever come to Windia, give me a visit." And with that, she strode out the room, pig in hand, with the soldiers following after her.

I turned and faced Bow. He looked sad. "This isn't fair, Ryu. Why'd she have to leave? I thought I could be her friend, maybe even her boyfriend… Dammit! This sucks." Now he was furious.

The Elder came over to him to try to calm him down. "Now, now, Bow, don't fret. After all, there are plenty of girls in this world. Someday, you will find the right one. Evidently, Mina wasn't that. Or maybe she will be. Just not right now. Besides, you're a ranger. You don't have time for girlfriends right now. Now, here's your pay. I hope you will use it wisely."

Bow sighed as he received the money (500 bucks!; hell, that cheered me up real quick!). "You're right, Elder. I'm sorry. There was no way the princess of Windia could have fallen for a guy like me. And like you said, I'm a busy man anyways. No time for fems right now. I don't like it much, but I guess it's all right. I feel better now. We got our first job done, and there's bound to be another one soon. Cool. Thanks, both of you."

And with a goodbye to the Elder, who gave us a parting promise that the next job would be better, we exited the outpost. When we felt the town air hit us, we realized how late it was. "Ah, man, Ryu!" Bow yawned. "This has been a long day! Let's get some sleep, what do you say?"

"I say that's fine with me. Let's go."


	3. Bow, a Thief?

Bow, a Thief?

Well, after we headed back to our room, I conked out. I mean, I was out in about five seconds. Bow took a little longer to settle; at least, I think he did. I couldn't really tell, since I was, you know, asleep. But I imagine he did, because he always does.

Anyways, there I was, sleeping soundly, when I heard a knock on our door. Of course, I wasn't expecting anyone this late, so I stayed rooted to my place, thinking it might be one of those psycho murderers who pretend to be insurance salesmen. Bow, however, got up. "Yeah, yeah, hang on a sec, would you? I'm coming." Smacking his lips, he drug himself the short distance to where our door stood and opened it. "What is it? Why are you here?" he questioned. I wondered who it was. I could discern a muffled voice on the other side muttering something, but exactly what I didn't know.

I found out soon enough though, for Bow called out, "Oh, work! Well, why didn't you say so? Come in, come in." The jerk was being quite insensitive to me, but since I was awake, I didn't mind too much.

"You want a drink? No? Well, that's fine. Okay, what's this work you're talking about…WHAT?" he shouted, before lowering his voice to a whisper again. I strained to hear him; my hearing's excellent, but he was really trying now not to be heard. "You want me to break into Trout's house? The richest guy in town? You must be crazy! That guy's house probably has a dozen guards outside and in! There's no way I could sneak in without being noticed."

"Well, friend," the visitor began, his voice silky smooth. I had a bad feeling about him. "I had a hunch you would be hesitant of robbing Trout. But what do you say to working for 5,000 coins? Would that price change your mind?"

Bow paused. "5,000, eh? That's quite a bit. Ok, let's talk a little more. What is it exactly you want me to do?"

The man smiled. "I'm glad you asked. As you no doubt know, Trout gets his fortunes from overtaxing the people and such. In other words, he's a thief. He takes people's money and never gives them a chance. He's a greedy pig, and his sticky fingers are not limited to just money. Oh, no. According to what my spies inside the house have told me, he has a compartment just stuffed with amazing treasures (not money) that he has acquired (I should say stolen) over the years. Among these, I'm sure, is an item he stole from me, Kilgore. It's something called the magic hood. I was not able to figure out exactly what its purpose was before it was taken from me, but I did pay a king's ransom for it, so of course I want it back. I would like you to go to his house, grab the hood, and come to my house. It's located in the northwestern corner of the town. When I have it back, you shall get your reward. I have come to understand you are one of the greatest thieves in the land, and your skills are much needed here. Please, Bow, retrieve my treasure for me!"

I could hear Bow pacing up and down. "Welllllll… it does sound dangerous. I mean, what if the guards are there? Or Trout himself?

"No, no. They're all gone, according to my reports. This will be the last time for a while that that will be the case, however, and thus, I hope you will be kind enough to do this task for me right now while there's still time."

Bow paused for a second. I prayed he wouldn't take the job. "Oh, all right, I'll do it. Might as well." I made a mental note to slap him the next time I saw him.

Kilgore smiled widely. "Splendid. Can you go right now? It will be better that way." And with those words, he departed as quickly as he had come in.

Bow went over to his bed and changed into his regular uniform. As soon as he did so, I shut my eyes and tried to look asleep. However, I kept a slight crack open on one eye to see what he would do. I was sure he wouldn't notice it. He walked over to where I was sleeping, studied me thoughtfully, and then shook. "No," he said aloud. "Ryu needs his rest. He did all the work today, not me. Besides, he sucks at stealing. I'm much better than him at that. If he comes, he'll probably break everything and cause a ruckus. No. This is a job for me alone. Good-bye, buddy. I'll see you soon." And he left without a word more.

I sighed. The dope didn't even take his crossbow with him. I guess he figured it would just weigh him down or something like that. Anyways, it was time for me to get some real sleep now. Bow would get the hood, come back, and then we could go get our next assignment from the Elder. Our big adventures were just beginning, or so I sincerely hoped. Little did I know how right I really was.

------------------

"What? What?" I yelled. "Who's there?" I thought I had felt something, not a physical touch, but just a little mental tap. "Is anyone there?"

No answer. Was I still in my room? Ah, yes, that's right. Bow had left to do some chore for a creepy guy, and I had stayed here, all alone. If I had been awake, he wouldn't have done it. Oh, well. I could only hope nothing bad had happened.

I hopped out of bed, and had my aching bones tell me off for doing so. I looked over at the clock at my bedside table. 2:00. Was it already that late! I had places to be today! I couldn't be late!

Hurriedly, I threw some clothes on, yanked open the door, and rushed downstairs, not even bothering to give a "Good morning" (or should I say, good afternoon) to Silvia, our landlord (landlady, actually). After all, there was no time to waste.

But when I got outside, I was met with a startling sight. The moon was out, the air was chilly, and all around the streets were dark. In other words, it was night. I couldn't believe it. Well, now I could go back and get some more sleep. But, now that I was up and about, I might as get some walking in. Stretch my legs a little more than I already had today. Get my blood flowing.

As I was walking, I noticed guards stationed around every exit, and more were coming in as I looked. That was odd. I wandered over to where my friend Herb was standing, at the front of the village. "Yo, Herbie, what's up, man? What's with all you guys being out this late? Someone die or what?" I was honestly confused. The guards usually only guarded one exit, not all three of them, and often had nights off. A stupid policy, but it had been all right with me. Evidently, though, something had happened. But what?

Herb looked at me with a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ryu. It's just that Trout's house has been robbed. Robbed! Can you beat that? But here's the real kicker. Everyone thinks it was Bow that did it! How about that? Of course, I know you guys would never get yourselves mixed up in stuff like that. Bow, a thief. Don't that just beat all? I mean, I know he used to steal stuff in his past, but he got straightened out years ago. But, now, everyone's starting to think otherwise. Don't worry, Ryu," he said quickly. "I'm on your side. I think Bow's innocent. Someone else must have done it to frame him, or maybe it wasn't an intentional frame, but he still ended up getting the blame for it. Stinking, lousy bums! We need to get whoever stole Trout's stuff and make them pay. What do you say, Ryu? Want to help us?"  
I nodded slowly, still dazed a little. How could that stupid boy have gotten caught? He always talked about how great he was, and how he would never get caught. Ha! I knew he shouldn't have taken this job. He was stupid for having done so. Now, everyone would be suspicious of him, and thus, of me. Dangit! My reputation was shot! Stupid, stupid Bow! I needed to find him so I could give him a smacking. I thanked Herb and promised I would do my best to help, masking the fury I felt at Bow with a tone of sadness, and turned away.

As I was stomping up the street, intent on heading to Kilgore's house to see if he knew where Bow had gone, some little punk crashed into me. "Oops, sorry about that, sir," she said before rushing away as fast as her legs would carry her. I had a fleeting glimpse of a pair of bat-like wings, as well as dark blue hair, before she totally disappeared from my sight.

I sighed. Such people were everywhere. They just ran around with no cares, not caring if they bumped into people and gave them headaches. I hated people like that. They needed to be taught a lesson on how to walk properly.

By the time I made it to Kilgore's house, my anger, both at my winged assailant and Bow, had passed. I was calm once more. I was still slightly perturbed at Bow, but now most of the fury had transformed into worry. He was well known for getting into sticky situations, but every time he managed to slip out. I wasn't sure if that would be the case this time. He had really messed up this time. Shaking my head, I walked up some stairs and did not even pause to ring the doorbell. I just barged right in.

Unfortunately, my actions didn't have the amount of intimidation that I was shooting for. I had hoped that Kilgore would be sitting in his main hall, surrounded by his maids, and would just about jump out of his skin when I came a-coming. However, the scene before me had none of this. In fact, there was nobody in the front room, or anywhere that I could see. I proceeded cautiously forward, sure that I was being monitored.

I peeked my head slowly around a gigantic pillar to check out the scene, and, finding it empty, slunk forward. I did not want to be caught off guard, so I went as slowly as possible.

After looking through several rooms in this fashion, and finding them all deserted, I was beginning to get angry at this Kilgore guy. Where was he, anyway? I threw all caution to the wind and decided to call his name. "Uh, Mr. Kilgore, sir? Are you here? This is Ry…er a friend of Bow. You assigned him a job not too long ago, and I was wondering…"

As I was speaking, Kilgore drew into view. He was different that what I was expecting. He looked old, maybe in his 50s, and not just because of his iron-gray hair. His face had a worn quality to it, as if maybe he had spent a job in a mine somewhere or something like that. Of course, I doubted such a thing was true, since he was one of the richest men in town, and everyone knows the mining business doesn't pay much. No, he must have done something else, but what, I don't know? With his fortune, he would have never had to do a day's work in his life. Some guys get all the luck, curse them. Getting back to the story, he was very tall, probably about 6'3", but not intimidating. There was something pleasant about him. He looked like a nice enough fellow, but man, his voice put me on edge. He appeared to be tired, but he still smiled broadly. "Mr. Bateson, it's good to see you here. I had a feeling you might come to my house. Get yourself over here, and we'll talk a little."

I was stumped. How could he know my name? He must have been reading my mind, for he laughed and said, "Everyone knows you, Ryu. And Bow, too. Do you honestly think after you have been in a village of about 30 people for 10 years, no one will recognize you? Surely you're smarter than that."

I nodded. Yeah, of course I knew that. Duh. "Of course, sir. I'm just a little tired, that's all," I said as I wandered over to join him in sitting down.

He sighed. "I imagine so. You've had a hell of a day, from what the Elder told me. And it hasn't gotten any better since you got back, has it?"

I shook my head. "No, sir, it sure hasn't, which is why I'm here. I understand that you employed Bow to go to Trout's house and steal a treasure back from him, is that correct?"

He looked at me with surprise. "Yes, that's right. How did you know?"

I grinned. "I have my ways, Mr. Kilgore. That's all I'm saying."

He inclined his head. "Fair enough, son. Now, let me tell you right off the bat. I don't know where Bow is. I imagine you're here to ask me that, so there's your answer. He has not come here like I wanted him to. As soon as he was discovered, I would imagine, he tore off to wherever he feels safest. Do you have an idea where that might be, Mr. Bateson?"

"Uh…" I couldn't think.

He sighed again. "And here I thought you were smart. Oh well. Your house, Mr. Bateson, your house. The only place in town that Bow can go to and feel comfortable, besides possibly the outpost. But since the outpost is closed right now, there would be only one place for him. Your house. Go there at once, and I would imagine you shall find our friend there. Only he knows whether he has my treasure or not, but I want you to ask him. If he does, request that he give it to you, so that you may bring it back here. The guards don't suspect you, so you will have no problems.

"Of course, if he doesn't have it, then you must get his story as to why not. If he has a legitimate excuse, good. If not, that's okay, too. I'll be flexible in this situation. Go ahead and tell him that. And also let him know I'm not angry he was caught, or should I say, almost caught. Trout's guards are renowned for their vigilance, so I'm actually glad he slipped past them.

"Also, tell him to lay low for a while. I don't want him trying to break in again anytime soon, not with everyone on the lookout for him. That would be a bad idea. Maybe you could try to sneak him out of town, and take him someplace. Or maybe, just take him with you on your travels, wherever those might lead you. Leave Hometown for a bit, and then the both of you return in a few weeks. By then, everything should be back to normal. After all, the whole town hates Trout, and loves the fact that it's finally him getting robbed. But, still, the soldiers will be watching day and night for a while, and they're far more dangerous than the people.

"So, anyways, get back to your house and reiterate everything I just said to Bow. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you plan to do. Come back in a few weeks and check on the situation. If the guards are gone from the exit (with the exception of Herb; he's always there), go ahead and bring Bow back. If this time, the time tonight, he failed to get my treasure, then when you bring him back, I might have to ask him to try again. But I'll have to think on that one first. Well, good luck, Ryu, and don't be too hard on Bow. He did his best, after all."

"Yes, sir, thank you." Wow. That guy could speak forever. Why can't I be like that? I'm a one-word kind of guy; if yes or no can get the job done, then I see no reason to further go into detail. Ah, well. Some guys are different than others. I stood up, waved to him, said my good-bye, and left the house.

----------------------

As I arrived back to my humble abode, I stumbled up the stairs, still dog-tired from all my running around today. Bow had better be in here, or else I would kill him.

When I got to our door and opened it, I was relieved to see him on the bed, getting a little shut-eye. It seemed he had been here for a while.

"Psst. Bow. Get up, man," I whispered, closing the door behind me. "It's me, Ryu. Your best friend. Get up, you fool, get up!"

At that, his eyes fluttered open. He raised his head and looked around for a bit. "Huh? What is it, Ryu?"

Seeing that he was at least partially awake, I decided to do what I was planning before. I walked over to him and smacked him on the back of his head. "You idiot!" I began, my anger returning. "What the hell were you thinking, taking a job from that guy? You haven't been thieving in years! What makes you think you can just start up again, and expect to do everything perfect! I knew you would get caught, I just knew it. Dammit all, Bow, what were you thinking? I thought you had better sense than that, man. I guess not. You need to get your head examined, man. What the hell is wrong with you? Jesus Christ!" I yelled. "And another thing, why in God's name are you sleeping now? Don't you know you're a wanted man? Don't you think the guards will be searching everywhere for you, and here probably first! You have to got to think more, Bow, or you will die young! Trust me!"

"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it. Christ, man, do you always have to be so freaking harsh on me? So I screwed up. Big deal. You do it all the time (and, might I say, far more times than I ever have). So why don't your keep your damn opinions to yourself, okay? How about that?" Now he was glaring intently at me. Oh man. I had hurt his feelings again. I really need to work on my people skills.

I took a deep breath and began my apology, trying to sound as contrite as possible. "Right you are, Bow. I'm deeply sorry for having hurt your feelings. It's just that, you worry me a lot with all the stupid things you do. You're really going to get hurt one of these days, Bow. You told me your thieving days were behind you, but I guess they aren't. And I see now, that's fine. In some cases. We need ways to get bread on the table, yes. But jobs like these, one where you risk our lives, these just aren't worth it. Now, I know that may sound harsh, but it's the truth. You've got to realize that. I'm not doing this to hurt you in any way, but to save you from the path you're heading. It's no good, mate. Don't you see that?"

He was still studying me, but the malice had gone out of his stare. He sighed. "Yeah, I can see that, Ryu. It's just that I couldn't resist taking the job. I mean, 5,000 coins is a lot of money, after all. But, yeah, it was a bad decision. I could have just said no, but I didn't. I was too eager. I need to just calm down. Every time some new cool thing comes up, I want to be right in the middle of it. That's okay, in some cases, but not in most. Not in this one.

"But, getting to my situation, you don't think I stole stole, at least not in the technical sense, anything, do you? After all, I was just getting back what Kilgore had said was taken from him, so in effect, I was not stealing, but taking back what was rightfully his. I would never take what it is not mine. At least, not at this stage in my life. I used to, but not anymore. I'm past that. But I can never pass up the opportunity to help an innocent man get justice. I'm a good person, I guess."

"Yeah, Bow, you're really great. I mean that. And no, I don't think you stole anything out of malice. I believe you were just helping ol' Kilgy get back his stuff. That's good, Bow. That's really admirable. I'm sort of glad you did it, but not really. Since we can't change what's done, though, we might as well move forward. Kilgore has asked me to relay some info to you, so here it is…

After I had told him everything, he shook. "Wow," he said. "That's a lot of stuff to remember. Jeez. I think the best idea would be to get out of here. Maybe go with you, maybe not. Whatever choice I make will be good, for I will be safe no matter what once I leave Hometown."

"Yeppers. You sure will. I'd like you to come along, but I don't know if that would be wise or not."

His head suddenly snapped up. "Oh, wait, I just remembered something. I forgot to tell you what happened at Trout's place. Can't believe I forgot until now. Here's what took place…

-----------------------

There I was. I had made it into the mansion without one hitch. As Kilgore had said, there were no guards anywhere. The house was completely empty. Still, I was on the alert as I moved forward.

Now, Kilgore had mentioned some compartment or something like that with a bunch of treasures in it. I figured, being as how Trout is extraordinarily greedy, and therefore extremely careful, with his things, the place would have been a secret. But, after checking all the other rooms, and finding squat, I ascertained the only place was an area that I had not checked yet: the hall closet. If the hood was in there, I would laugh, because that would be the stupidest hiding spot ever.

As I got closer, however, I had an idea. What if the compartment was out here in the open like this because inside were attack dogs, or all the guards ready to spring out, or something like that? Trout was smart when it came to protecting things, and that would be a smart thing to do. So, I drew out my crossbow and loaded it up. Now I was ready for anything.

Then, as I'm about 5 steps away from the closet door, some little punk throws open the door and comes barreling out. I see this, but before I have time to react, she's crashed into me. I nearly killed her then, Ryu. My crossbow went off, but luckily it was facing sideways and instead embedded itself in the wall.

As I was getting up, she's already running away. She tosses a "Sorry about that, man" back over her shoulder as she's leaving, though, so I'm not completely mad at having been ran into. I turned around and headed into through the door, hoping to find the magic hood that I was looking for so I could leave.

Buuuuuttttttt, the closet was empty. That girl had taken everything that was in there. Of course, that includes the magic hood. I couldn't believe it. I had come all this way, risking my neck, for nothing. Dang it. Now I knew Kilgore would be mad at me and never give me another job.

As I exited the closet, I closed the door, and when I turned, I saw a shocking sight. Not one, but two guards had appeared, no doubt drawn by the noise caused by me and the girl crashing together. _Damn!_ I thought. _Kilgore was wrong. There were still some guards here_. _This is not looking good._ I muttered a quick prayer and, as they began to close in, dashed down the hall and out the front door as fast as I possibly could. When I got out of the house, I just kept running until I got here. I waited downstairs for a bit, though, so that may be why you didn't see me. And that's my story."

--------------------------

I nodded. "Yeah, that could be. Well, Bow, I can definitely tell, you are innocent. That same girl ran into me while I was going to talk to Kilgore, and she took off like a bat out of hell after she did, just like with you.

She won't be too hard to find, though, no matter how fast she is. How many people have bat wings and blue hair? Not many. We'll get her soon, Bow. Don't worry about it any. Your name will be cleared soon."

He smiled. "Thank you, Ryu. I just knew you would believe me, even if no one else does. Now, about getting out of here…!"

Just then, a knocking came on the door. "Ryu Bateson? Are you in there, son? We have received information that points to this being the house of Bow Recondall. We know he's in there. Don't try to hide him, son, because it won't go well for you."

I gulped. This guy sounded like he meant business. I turned to Bow. "Dude," I whispered. "What do we do?"

He scanned the room quickly. His eyes lighted on the green trashcan in the corner. "There," he said simply. He tiptoed quickly over to it, lifted the lid, and maneuvered himself in there.

I couldn't believe he fit in there. I would have to ask him about that later. But now was not the time for such things. I walked over to the door, first rumpling my hair so it looked like I just woke up, and opened it.

The guard standing there burst in as soon I opened the door, nearly knocking me over. He started looking in our beds first, thinking, I guess, that Bow would be stupid enough to be in bed knowing he was a wanted man. Oh, wait, he was. He had been earlier when I came in. Jeez, that kid was dumb!

After seeing nobody was sleeping, the guard looked under the bed, behind the bookshelf, under the table, and all over the place before uttering a satisfied grunt. He turned to me. "Okay, son, I can see he's not in here. But if you're hiding him elsewhere, boy, you're making a big mistake. We have the entire Hometown force on the look for him. We will find him. Don't think otherwise." With that, and a final check around, he left the room, not even bothering to shut the door.

Whew. That was close. I walked to the trashcan. "Okay, Bow, you can get out now. He's gone."

The lid lifted. Bow's furry head popped out, but that was all. "Actually, Ryu, I got the perfect idea for getting out of Hometown. You pretend to be taking this trash out to the dumpster outside town, and when we get out, we head over to Niro's shack. Over by the mountains, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Bow, I don't remember a place I was just at three hours ago. Yes, you dolt. Of course I remember it. How could I forget a place where I saw the biggest freaking cockroach in the world?"

He nodded, oblivious to my sarcasm. "Yeah, I thought you might have. Well, what do you say? Are you up for it?"

"Well, su… Wait a minute. Are you going to be in that trash can the entire time?"

"Yes, unfortunately. There might be guards outside too, and in case of that, I must stay inside this. I know I shouldn't, but I got to to make this work."

I sighed. "Yeah, Bow, I'll do it. Let's go."

"Yeah, baby! Cool! I owe you big for this one, Ryu!"

"Yes, you do. Now come on."

"Righto." And he rolled over to where I was. Or, at least, he tried. Instead, he ended up falling on his face. I laughed, and then went to go help him up.

"Next time, Bow, wait for me to help you. Got it?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Okay, Ryu. I got it. Are you ready now?"

"Yes. Let's move!" And with those words, I grabbed the handle of the trashcan and began wheeling him out. Of course, he was much heavier than our normal loads, but I could still handle him. The tough part would be climbing the mountain, but I thought I could make it. In fact, I was sure of it.

As we exited the house, we made our way to the front gate. As we approached, Herb held up his hand. "Whoa, there, boys. I can't just let you through like this. Oh, it's you, Ryu. Hi there. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sorry about Bow, man. It's a shame. I hope he gets cleared. Now, what have you got there?"

"Ah, it's nothing but some old comic books of mine. Just taking them to the dumpster. Gotta clean house sometimes, eh?"

"What's that? Oh, indeed. Without a doubt. Well, since you're just taking the trash out, I guess I can let you out." He turned and took a ring of keys outside his pocket. Whistling as he did, he went one by one through them until at last he found the right one. Inserting it into the lock, he twisted it, and opened the gate with one hand. "There you go, Ryu, all ready for you. Oh, and Ryu."

I turned to face him. "What, Herb?"

He looked up. "Don't worry about getting caught. I won't tell anyone I let the two of you go."

I raised my eyebrows. "How'd you know?"

"Ah, I know you fellas. Always there for each other! Just like friends should be. Best of luck to you, mate. You're going to need it to survive out there. I reckon I can close this gate, eh? Going off for some long journey, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's the general idea. Thanks a lot, Herb. You saved our skins right now." And I gave him my hand to shake.

He took it, and pumped it twice. "Yeah, well, gotta help my buddies out, right? Well, so long, Ryu. Visit the village whenever you can."

I waved to him. "Good-bye, Herb. I will when I can." With those parting words, I stepped through the gates and back into the wide world, this time, for a bigger adventure.

I had not gone a dozen steps when Bow started calling. I heard him and took the lid off. He popped out, slightly red. "Man, it's hot in there, you know that? And smelly! Woo! It stinks! I'm not looking forward to this trip, not one bit. Well, I just came out to get a little fresh air, so I'm ready to go back in now, okay?"

"Yeah, Bow, I hear you." I put the lid back on, grabbed the handle, and started to walk…

--------------------------

Hours later, I wheeled the garbage can, now with plenty of dents in its side, into Niro's front yard. Man! What a trip that had been! Ready to drop, I wearily lifted the lid off the top of the can, allowing Bow complete freedom at last.

"Wow. Ryu, next time I try to, please don't let me in another garbage can. I don't want to go back in there. I'm tired of it."

I looked at him. "You're tired! I'm the one who had to drag your fat ass up the mountain. What do you mean, 'I'm tired of it?' If I wasn't so exhausted right now, I would give you a good punch in the face." Completing my little speech had cost me all the energy I had left. Now, wheezing and gasping, I dropped to the ground, desperate for some air.

"Eh, whatever. The important thing, we're here, and when you go back, you don't have to carry my fat ass up the mountain. There? Are you happy, Mr. Whine-a-Lot?"

"No," I hissed. I needed to lay down for a while. I closed my eyes and try to rest…

Only to be rudely shaken by Bow not five minutes later. "Hey, man, this is no time for sleep. We have to get inside now. You can rest later."

I sighed weakly. "All right, all right. I'm coming." I lifted myself off the ground, with a little help from Bow, and stumbled forward up the stairs leading into Niro's place.

Bow was already in there. As soon as he had helped me get up, he had taken off. "Yo, old man, get up! It's 7:00! Time to start your day! Hello?"

"Yeah, yeah, who is it, who is it?" a raspy voice asked. "Oh, it's you guys again. Weren't y'all just here?"

"Yes, sir, as a matter of fact, we were. May we come in?"

The old man sighed. "Yeah, sure, come on in. Sit yourselves down at the table. I need to make me some coffee."

Bow rotated around to face me. "Get in here, Ryu, will you? Man, you take forever."

"Right."

By the time I got in, Bow had seated himself at the table, and Niro was hobbling over with a cup in his hands. It wasn't giving off any steam, so I assumed it was cold coffee he was carrying. I went to the table and sat down on the broken chairs.

"Well, boys, what is it? What can I can do for you?"

"Sir, we have a problem," began Bow. "I have been falsely charged of stealing from a rich man, and now I'm a wanted man in my hometown. Thus, I need a place to stay while Ryu here goes to look for the real thief. So, the question is, can I stay here?"

The old man studied us thoughtfully. "Falsely charged, eh? Well, I can't well say no to your request, not after you guys helped against those roaches. Okay, you can stay here. But," he said, his eyes glinting, "if you're gonna stay here, you're gonna work, got that? My house is falling apart before my eyes, and I'm gonna need some young, strong workers to help me. You look like you fit that bill."

"Oh, yes, sir, I imagined I would have to do something. I'm a hard worker (just ask Ryu) and I'm ready to do my share of work around here. I imagine there's a lot to do around here, right?"

The man nodded. "You darn right there is, sonny. We can start tomorrow. I've had too much excitement these past two days to do anything productive. I just want to sleep for now."

Bow nodded. "I understand completely, sir." He turned to me. "Well, Ryu, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for dragging me up here. I truly appreciate it. Now, you must go, buddy. Go and find that girl who's the real thief. You must, Ryu! I know you can do this. I see you do tougher tasks on a regular basis. You can do this, man. You must! For me!"

"All right, Bow. I'll do it. Only for you, man."

He grinned happily. "Thanks, man. And when you get her, come back here, and we'll celebrate together. All right! Adios, amigo! Good luck!"

"Thank you, Bow." I turned, bid farewell to Niro, and turned my back on them both. I was ready to start looking. But where, I didn't know…


	4. Becoming Baba

Becoming Baba

"Hmmmm… now, where could that girl have gone to?" I thought aloud. "She's carrying valuables, so she probably intends to sell them in some big city or something. That would be the logical thing for her to do, after all, cause then they couldn't track her very easily in a large town. Now, there are only two big cities anywhere close to here, other than Hometown, of course, and she would have to be a fool to return there. There's Coursair, over to the east, and there's Windia, up north and west a ways. But, then again, Windia's two entrances are essentially sealed off. One's being watched over by the winged guards of the palace, and the other, the main entrance, can only be reached by those who can fly. Now, my little bat-girl has wings, but does that mean she can fly? I hope to the Dragon God not, because that would make my quest a heck of a lot tougher.

Well, I'm going with my gut and say she can't fly. It's a risky choice, because if I mess up, she could be gone forever. But I must go with it. If I falter now, on any level, I could end up in a deep crack.

I guess then that Windia's pretty much x-ed out, so I should probably head over to Coursair and see if they got any news on her. Maybe I'll even get to check out the fights when I get there. After all, they're world renowned, and I've never been to one. Maybe I could even get in and fight in one…

I grinned to myself. That would be righteous to have happen. Be on the world's most famous fighting stage, battling the odds as well as my opponent, taking out all who oppose me, earning worldwide fame. That was certainly a very nice picture in my head. But, I knew the fighters in there trained since they were in diapers, so I doubt I would have much of a chance, great as I was. Still, it was nice to dream about such things.

Now, it was time to go. Yes, I would have to climb the mountain for the fourth time today, but that was fine. This time, I wouldn't have Bow pestering me. That thought alone would make it easy to make the journey. I was finally free to do my own stuff. I mean, I love Bow and all, but man! That guy can get on your nerves really quick. He talks a lot, and that's fine with me, but not so with other people. He doesn't like to do hard work, or any work for that matter. He's prone to "dizzy spells" that render him "unable to move", and so he goes and spends the whole day in bed, much to the anger of us who actually do work. He's a little slow, both in the mental and physical sense. He has some good ideas, but they never come to light because he can't execute them properly. All in all, he has a lot of faults, just like the rest of us, but he's a really good dude when it comes down to it. I know I was just ragging on him just now, but it's all in good fun. I wouldn't leave his side in a million years, unless I was forced to, like now. I had to hurry so I could get back and clear his name, so he could travel with me again!

I started walking towards the mountain base, mentally preparing for another trip over. Suddenly I stopped, and thought a little about the seriousness of the situation; then I started again, this time jogging a little. Then, I upped the pace, beginning to run. After that, I kept picking up speed until I was screaming over the trail. I had a mission after all, and I couldn't ignore it. Bow was depending on me, and darned if I was going to let him down. He had done a lot for me over the years, and had never once abandoned me, in any situation (well, maybe a few times, but still). With this thought spurring me, I ran and ran, and didn't stop until I made it to the bottom of the mountain, and across the bridge leading to the eastern lands, where I could make my way to Coursair.

As I made it to the other side, I collapsed. I couldn't help myself. I was plumb tuckered out. I hadn't run that much, that fast, in many moons. I rarely ran anymore, actually, so this was the first time in a long time I had even done that. I just didn't have the energy most of the time. But, this situation was special, so I made an exception. Maybe I shouldn't have, though. I felt as though I would die real soon if I didn't get somewhere fast and have a good rest. Luckily, Coursair wasn't too far now, so I might be able to make it. I had to try, at least, if nothing else. I gritted my teeth and stood up, my stomach complaining as I did. I slowly brushed off the little bits of grass that had gathered on my shirt and pants as I had lay down. Once I was finished with that, I began walking. I didn't think I could run anymore for a while. I had to take it easy for now.

When I arrived at the upper bridge, I saw with great relief that the guard who had halted Bow and I earlier was gone. He must have found that Nina person or whoever it was he was looking for. Thank the Dragon God. I was far too tired to deal with anybody right now, especially a stupid guard. Now, I was just a little ways from Coursair. I smiled slightly. I could get some rest now.

As I drew close, the coliseum loomed large over my head. I looked up and stared at it for a second. It looked exactly like the old ones did, back in ancient times. That was cool. They had done their research before they built it. I admired that.

Finished gazing at it, I shifted my gaze down, and made my way into the gladiator capital of the world, Coursair.

When I got in, I saw that, other than the giant building in the back, it was fairly similar to Hometown. Darn. And here I had been hoping for a totally unique place. Oh, well. Can't always get what you want, I guess.

But, after proceeding in a few steps, I saw something that caught my eye and gave me a boost. It was a sign indicating an establishment that Hometown had banned a while back after Bow and I had caused some trouble in it. In the eastern half of the town, there was an inn, which made me quite happy. But the sign on the building next to it made me happier, for it bore one single, awesome word: PUB, in neon letters. I hadn't been in one for quite some time, and since I, like any other man, loved my ale, I had been hankering to get back in one ever since the Elder had shut ours down. And the cause of that, by the way, was Bow. Not me. I was just there. Bow started the fight, and I only helped a little. Don't believe anything else.

I wandered over to the door below the sign and pulled it open. Ah! That glorious smell of beer! Great stuff, I think. Just being in this place made me feel a lot better than before.

I walked up to the barkeep, who was busy wiping out the glasses and getting them ready for another use. I still remembered what I was doing here, which was good, because beer usually makes me amnesiac. I decided to ask him a few questions. "Hey, man," I offered as my greeting.

He turned and stared at me, revealing a happy look on his face. Wow. This guy must be taking classes on how to please the customer. "What can I do for you, bud? Want a drink? Food? Lodging? Something? Anything?" he asked in a manner that reflected his visage. He was still wiping the glass as he talked, his hand never stopping its circular motion.

"None of those, thank you very much. What I need is answers. You see, I've come here from Hometown, investigating a robbery that took place over there. The thief dashed off before we could capture her, as they always seem to, and I have a hunch she might have either come here or to Windia. Of course, Windia's hard to get to, so I figured she had probably passed through here."

"Hmmm. What does she look like?"

"She has blue hair, like mine, only darker. More of a blue-black, I guess you would say. And wings. She has two bat-like wings on her back. Kind of like a dragon, or something like that. That's about all I was able to tell at the quick glance I got, unfortunately."

"Well, bud, sorry to disappoint, but I ain't seen anyone like that in this bar or in town. I would remember if I did, and I don't, so I didn't. However, you might have better luck asking the patrons here about her."

I looked around. It was empty except for me, him, and one other bartender. "Where are they?"

He chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, sonny, they'll come. The first ones usually come around 7, and then gradually, more keep arriving until about 9ish. By then, it's almost always full. I have a feeling these guys will know at least something, because most of them have jobs outside of town, so they see a lot more than me. I'm stuck here all day, you see? I haven't even had a chance to see that new fighter everyone's talking about. Anyways, why don't you wait here until 7, huh?"

"Okay. Will do, sir. Thanks for the tip." I went over to a table and sat down, wondering what to do for the next three hours.

"No problemo, bud. Hey, you wanna help me clean up here and get ready for tonight? I can't pay you, but you can kill some time and get some experience in. How about it? If you have other plans, that's fine. But I really could use some help."

I stood up. Might as well do it. After all, I had no other plans. "All right, sir, I'll help. You need to teach me, though. I've never done this before."

"You got it. By nightfall, you'll know everything about bartending. By the way, my name's Jack, nice to meet you." He extended his hand for me to shake.

I took it. "I'm Ryu. It's nice to meet you, Jack."

He put his hand down, bent down behind the counter, and came up with another rag. "All right, now that we know each other, let's get started…"

------------------------

Ah! Finally, it was 7:00! Now, I could try to get some answers. Thus far, no one had arrived, but that was all right. Jack had told me I was off at 7:00 no matter what. I walked over to the side counter, flipped the panel up, and went to sat down at a table. I really needed a rest now. As much as my spirit had been lifted up by the mere sighting of the pub, it had been crashed down to a much lower level in the three hours since. Doing bartending was hard work. I felt for Jack and Jim. Both those guys deserved props for working here so long. Good thing this was my last time doing that stuff.

As soon as I lay my head down, though, I was interrupted. A stream of people started pouring in, and I lifted my head sleepily to watch them. No one that looked suspicious on the surface, and no one that looked especially helpful. They looked to be your average town citizens without any cares or concerns about what was going on in the world. But, wait, there was one guy, at the back. He looked like he could aid me. I observed him go over to the back of the bar and stand there. Once he did, I hopped up from my seat and went to have a talk with him.

When I got closer, though, I begin to feel a little scared. This guy was gigantic. I had never seen anyone this big, outside of the monster that attacked me when I was younger. He stood probably seven or eight tall at the shoulder, which made him approximately nine feet tall. His skin was a leathery gray, and it looked like it could repel anything, even the sharpest of blades. He looked a little like a member of the Shell clan, but I couldn't really tell since he was so large. Most Shells are smaller, or so I had been taught. They're tough as nails, true, but a lot smaller than this guy. I mean, his biceps were bigger than my entire body. He could squish me flat with no problem, and probably would if I upset him. I would have to be very careful with this guy, no doubt about it. I did not want him as my enemy. I took a deep breath and walked right next to him. "Hello, good sir," I began. I saw him flitch his ear in a fashion that made me think he was listening. I continued, just a trifle nervous. "As I sat here in the bar, waiting for the patrons to make their entrance, I had begun to think to myself that I needed help from someone who is tough. Now as I watched the men come in, I looked in their faces, and saw nothing there that gave me any assurance that these men could help me. And then I saw you come in, and I knew immediately that you could assist me. How about it, sir? Would you like to listen to my story, and decide for yourself if you should help a pitiful soul like me?"

He thought for a moment. Actually several moments. Evidently my friend here wasn't too fast on the uptake. Oh, well. For a guy his size, I wasn't expecting too much upstairs. "Well, I guess I might as well. I got nothing better to do," he rumbled out in an astonishingly deep voice. "Take a seat, my small friend. I can't sit, of course, because then I'll break the stool. And Jake over there said if that happened one more time, he would throw me out forever. And I can't have that happen, you see? This is practically my home."

"Uh-huh," I said, moving to take a seat. "Well, that's fine by me, Mr…?"

"My name's Rand."

"Oh, well, I'm Ryu. Good to meet you, Rand."

"Right. Now, what is it you want to say? I can't guarantee I can help, but I'll try."

"Yes, sir. Okay, here's the deal. I'm on a journey from my hometown of Hometown, to the west of here. You ever been there?"

He shook his head. "Nope, never have Ryu. I can't say that I've even ever heard of it."

"Oh. Okay. Well, anyways, my friend Bow was told yesterday to go steal a treasure back from a rich man in town. His hirer, another rich man, claimed the other guy, Trout, had stolen from him and he was just assigning Bow to get it back, not technically "steal" it. Thus, he felt, and made Bow feel, it was not wrong to do what he asked. So my friend goes in Trout's mansion, and when he gets to the room the treasure is supposed to be in, bam! Some little punk girl runs into him and knocks him over. When he gets up to check, the room is empty! The girl that had crashed into him had stolen everything. Just then, the guards came, and my buddy ran for it. And since he did that very suspicious act, all the guards think he's guilty. Now, he is hiding in a shack next to Mt. Fubi, because, back in Hometown, he is Public Enemy No. 1. After he went into exile, he asked that I go out and look for the real thief, so that I could clear his name. And thus, I came here, to Coursair, to look for answers."

"Hmmm. That's a very intriguing story. What does this thief of ours look like?"

"I wasn't able to tell much from the brief glance I got when she bumped into me, but she does have bat-like wings and blue-black hair."

"Not too many people I've ever seen match that. She should be easy to find."

"Yes, well. I thought perhaps maybe you had seen her in your travels?"

"No, sorry. I haven't. I've seen a lot of weirdos, but none like that. However…"

"Yes?"

"There is someone here at the coliseum that might be the girl you're looking for. Or, maybe this person has some information about the thief. Rumor has it that a tough new fighter has come here and dominated everyone she's fought. No one knows what her name is, because she told the ring announcers to just call her the "greatest fighter in the world." She has her reasons, I guess. I haven't had a chance to go see her in action yet, but tomorrow tonight I will. She's scheduled to fight someone named Baba. Again, not much is known about him, but he is rumored to reside in the Tag Woods, up north a bit. He's supposed to be this crazy woodsman who bears this giant axe, ready to take down anyone. A real fighter.

Now, if you go try to talk to this girl, she'll probably kill you. At least, if you're not fighting her. The only way that you have any shot of asking her anything is by entering into combat with her in the arena. And she already has an opponent tonight. And after this, she won't fight again for two more weeks."

"Two weeks! That's too long! No, I must speak to her now! Doesn't she have like visiting hours or something where reporters come and talk to her?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "Are you kidding? No way! Everyone's scared of her. Nope, you're out of luck, my friend, unless by some chance you're Baba?"

I was scared, and angry, now. How could this be? Just when I thought I had a promising lead, it turns out to be a dead end. There had to be something I could do!

"Well," I started, "thanks for all the info, Rand. I appreciate it, even if it didn't help me out a whole lot. Since I got nothing else to do, I might just stop by the coliseum and see her fight. See if she's my thief I'm looking for, you know? Again, thanks. I'll see you later." With that, I turned and walked out of the bar.

"No problem, Ryu," he offered as his parting words. "I'll keep my eyes open for you, though. If anyone like that turns up, I'll be sure to let you know."

I raised my hand in acknowledgement and thanking of his speech. By now I was nearly to the door, so I pushed open it and stepped out into the night.

Brrrr. It was getting cold out here. I needed to get inside an inn and get some sleep. I hadn't shut my eyes for two days now, except for about two hours early this morning. I stumbled over to the inn, just a few steps away from the pub, and landed painfully on the doorstep.

"Ouch." I got up, rubbing my face. I had not meant to do that. Now a little angry, I grabbed the door handle and yanked it, only to find it was a push type of door. Exasperated, I lifted my foot and kicked it open, startling the receptionist who sat there typing something up.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked pleasantly, yet with a slightly nervous look on her face.

"Yeah, I need a room real bad. Do you have one open?"

"Certainly, sir. Here is your key."

I took it. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, sir. Now, this is an advance pay hotel, so if you would, please pay the 200 coins now."

I nodded, inwardly surprised. 200 coins? For this slophouse? Wow. They were nuts. But I had no choice, after all. I pulled out my coin bag and gave her 10 twenty-coin pieces.

"Thank you very much, sir. Have a good night."

"I will try to, ma'am. Good night."

I took the key from my host's hands, turned, and walked up the stairs, trying to present myself in any kind of dignified manner. After all, first impressions are the most important.

The instant I made it upstairs and into my room, I made a beeline for the bed. When I crashed onto it, I closed my eyes, and was asleep in less than a minute.

------------------------

Wow! That felt great! Finally, I had gotten some well-earned and needed rest. I was ready now to execute my plan. I hopped out of bed, dressed, went downstairs, bid the receptionist good morning, and walked outside the inn.

Where I promptly ran into my huge friend from the night before. I nearly fell over, but he reached over and grabbed me before I did. "Ryu. I know what you're planning on doing today, and I applaud you for it. Not many people are brave enough to go into Tag Woods alone. There's a reason why Baba is the only man still living there.

"You must be extremely cautious, of course. There are all sorts of things in there that you should be wary of. In particular, the bugbear. You can't miss it. It's a giant, green-furred bear, with a tuft of pink hair on its head, which stands on its hind legs and swipes at you with its claws. It has a very long reach, and its claws do tend to hurt, a lot, so try to stay away from it, okay?

"As for the other things, there are living trees, but they stay rooted to the ground. Just stay out of the way of their branches and you should be fine. Harpies roost in the trees and will attack anybody who comes close to them; just stick on the main path and don't wander off it to check out the trees, okay? And, lastly, giant, killer flowers abound in there. They try to put people to sleep so they can eat them later. Aim at their base with your sword and you should have no trouble. But, all things considered, not just the monsters, it's a very dangerous place, Ryu. Go for it, I say, if you're willing, but be very careful. I want you back in one piece. Don't go get yourself killed for nothing, eh?" With those words, he turned and went off to the pub.

I stood there for a bit, a little stunned. This was going to be far harder than I first thought. Bugbears? Killer flowers that would eat me? That didn't sound my idea of a fun place. But, Bow was counting on me. I couldn't let him down now. I had to go, and go now, or else night would fall while I would still be debating, and all hope would be lost for my questioning the fighter in the arena.

Before I went, though, I decided to go upgrade my equipment. I needed it badly. There was a weapon store right next to the entrance, so I headed there straightaway, my pace a little faster than normal.

When I got in there, I saw I was the only one in the store. Hmm. You'd think more people would want to get better armor for themselves in these dangerous times. Ah, well. I approached the proprietor, another of the fish kind. These seemed to be the only guys running these places.

He looked up as I came over. His eyes, huge and unblinking, stared at me ceaselessly. It made a little nervous. He needed to have those things looked at.

"Say, maister, what's going on? You got any equipment you can sell me? I really need some, man. I'm about to go somewhere very dangerous, and the better my equipment, the higher my chance of survival, right?"

He nodded, very slowly. "Right, you are, sir," he said mechanically. "What can I do for you this fine day?"

Had this guy even heard one word I said? I made a mental note to talk to management later on their choice of employees. I decided to try again. "Well, I reckon you could sell me some armor. How about that?"

"Fine. Have a look."

I took a glance. Oh. So this was why there was no one else. The inventory stunk. I mean, it was pitiful. It was barely better than the stuff I wore, and that was handmade. That either says a lot about my craftsmanship abilities or nothing at all about their stock. Either way, there wasn't anything much I could use here, except for two pieces of equipment, a shiny little helmet in the corner and a dusty cloak on the counter.

"Well, pardner, I reckon I'll take that there helmet and this here cloak and be on my way, eh?"

He stared, still stared, at me as he moved to get the items. "Okay, sir. That will be 579 coins."

"Jesus! That much! God, you guys are rip-offs! I have never seen the likes of this. Wow, just wow! Here, take the money!" With that, I flung six 100-coin pieces in his face. "Keep the change, man." I grabbed my armor and headed out the door, and out of town, ready to make my way to the woods.

As I got outside, I removed the duct tap that held my salad bowl, which had rested on my head since the start of my journey, to my head. I took the bowl off, and adjusted my new helmet onto my head. Good. It fit nice. It didn't fully cover my face, but then, few helmets did, after all. Once that was done, I stripped off the armor I was wearing, which was really little more than rags, and adjusted my cloak on my body. There. Now I was set to go. I stalked off in a general northwest direction, thinking all the way.

I figured, since Baba was going to be fighting tonight, I would have to beat him in his lair to take his place in the contest. I knew this would work. Every fighter, no matter how low-down or how tough, has some sense of morals when it comes to their sport. They will acknowledge defeat and give up their titles or whatever to you if you beat them fair and square. I was confident I could thrash Baba, but I wasn't so sure about the monsters in the woods. They were likely tougher than he was. And I was all alone now. This was do or die time. It was time to stand up to my fears and conquer them by myself. All right. I was at the entrance already. Time to head on in. Slowly I proceeded forward.

Well, this wasn't so bad. Some typical forest sights greeted me, like really green grass, tall trees, and moving flowers. Huh? Moving Flowers! WHAT!

Instantly I was rolling along the ground, having narrowly avoid the giant flower's sleep breath. Through its lingering cloud, I could discern the flower retreating. I couldn't let it do that.

Tucking my mouth into my cloak and lowering my head, I stumbled forward to overtake the monster. Once I was out of the smoke cloud, I lifted my cloak down and drew my sword. Now, Rand had mentioned the base when he was talking about the flowers, so I ducked down, avoiding the high-speed petal that had been coming my way, and began hacking. Only bits and pieces flew off at a time. Evidently, this thing had a tough foundation. I kept whacking at it, circling as I did to avoid the hits and the clouds of gas, and eventually dug a deep hole in its front side. Having done so, I reached back and stabbed into its heart, cutting through it and effectively ending its life.

Well, that was nice. Two steps in and I had gotten ambushed. This trip was not going to be fun. That was all right. I has experienced plenty worse than this. I could handle it. No problem. As long as I avoided any bugbears, that is.

-------------------------

I had made it. Or so I thought. After about two hours of tramping around in the untamed forest, I had at last arrived at Baba's little hut. I could see smoke rising from it, so I knew he was home.

I had been incredibly lucky during my trip. After that initial battle with the flower, I had not met but two more enemies, and not one of them had been a bugbear: one of the harpies, who was just as easy to take down as the ones on Mt. Fubi had been; and a tree. That had been easily dealt with. I had just thrown my sword into the thing's eye, thus blinding it. Once I had, I walked over, pulled my sword out, and commenced to slice and dice the branches. Following that, it was done, baby. The tree was just a hunk of wood, after all. What the hell was it going to do against hardened steel?

Once I had fought the tree, I tried to avoid any more unnecessary battles, and so ran away any time I saw a threat approaching. As I ran, I grew angry with myself, for I hate running away from anything. But, then, I didn't have time for such things now, not with so much at stake.

As I approached the door, I placed one hand over my sword handle inconspicuously, so that, as soon as he opened the door, I could get a shot at him.

"Who is it?" a voice thundered from inside.

Uh-oh. "Um, it's Ryu Bateson, sir. I have come to fight you."

"Fight me…? Ahahahahahahaha," he laughed cruelly. "You dare say that you are worthy enough to fight me, Baba, king of Tag Woods?" I could him moving inside. He was probably going for that axe of his. "Well, I tell you what. Why don't you go around back there and see what's behind my shed? Then come back and tell me if you still want to go at it."

"O-okay." I was more than a little scared. What would he have back there? Most likely something bad, but what? I had to find out. I took a deep breath, held it, and walked around to the backside of his shed.

And I immediately let it out in a rush of air, though it was not one of relief. For behind his shed lay a mountain of human skulls, most of them gray and worn through, but some quite fresh, the tops of them gleaming in the sunlight. They all had some sort of facial expression on them, the majority of them being ones of horror. Some just had a stupid look on their face, so I assumed they were not expecting their deaths. Whatever their faces showed, it didn't really matter, though. Because right now, I was standing mere feet away from the man who had made this pile here. Right then, I realized I was mistaken about Baba. He would indeed prove to be a challenge, rather than a pushover. However, I couldn't let my skull be added to this gruesomely impressive collection. I had to defeat him, for Bow's sake, yes, but more importantly, for my life. I took a deep gulp, turned, walked to the front of his house, and knocked on the door.

"Okay, Mr. Baba, I've seen the mountain you have back there. It's…very nice. But, don't think that I'm that weak. That stuff didn't scare me. I've seen far worse stuff that that before. Now, come on out and give me your best."

Silence. Then, the door opened, and Baba himself came out. He looked exactly as I expected: unbelievable tall for a man, arms that rivaled the size of Rand's, a foot long beard, and hair that reached halfway down his back. He held in one hand a huge broadax that was almost as tall as he was. He kept shifting the axe easily from one hand to the other, even though it looked to weigh in the neighborhood of 200 pounds or so. That was not a good sign. He looked down over his broad chest at me, a smile beginning to form on his lips.

"Well, well. So this is the boy who wants to fight. You've got guts kid. Not many people want to tangle with me. And I don't blame them. I'm one bad mother. Just thought you might want to know ahead of time, in case you hadn't already guessed.

"Now, let's get going. I'm tired of talking." And with that, he swung his axe up and gripped it with both hands. He was ready to fight alright.

As soon as he had finished establishing his grip, I saw he was planning to utilize it right then and there. That was probably how he killed all those other people: surprise attack. When I noted his arms getting ready to lift the axe, I quickly sidestepped out of the range of the axe. It could reach a good ways, I imagined, and so I went about 12 feet away, drawing out my sword as I did. Now I, too, was ready.

After witnessing me back off, Baba held his axe rather than swing it and leave himself open to attack. He then slowly began to approach me. I did not wait for him to reach me. Instead, I rushed forward, ducking a little, and brought my sword upwards quickly, hoping to make a slash across his belly. Unfortunately, he evaded it, though not with the greatest of agility. I decided then I had to take advantage of my superior speed in order to win. A series of slow, powerful attacks he could easily block and counterattack, but I doubted he would have an answer for lightning-fast, semi-powerful hits. I would have to be very careful, though. It would take a number of strikes from my sword to bring him down, but one hit from that axe would likely kill me. Plus, he had quite a reach advantage on me. I would have to lure him into taking a chop with that axe, and evade it, so I could rush in and start chopping before he regained his composure. That would be a little difficult to pull off, but it was my best choice right now. I leaped back a little, sensing another swipe was going to be coming my way. That was good.

Babe lurched forward, his hands never letting his axe slip. As he approached me, he directed a slow swing at my head, then snapped it back halfway through its arc and re-aimed it so that it was pointing at my right arm. I was surprised at his speed, but I had been ready for something like that, so I evaded the brunt of the blow. I still got a cut, right on my hand, but it was not a major one.

Seeing that he had stabbed at me, and thus leaving him open, I quickly made my move. Skittering to the left of the axe, I lifted my sword, but this time in a stabbing rather than a slashing motion. As I did, he looked over, and instantly tried to bring his axe back up so he could parry my move. However, he was just a little too slow. My blade had already made a deep incision in his stomach by the time he had gotten his axe in the air, and the cut I had made caused him to drop his weapon to the ground. Seeing he was weakened, I wanted to spare him, but I couldn't. I decided to finish him off. I pushed the blade in deeper and deeper until the tip was poking out his backside. He looked down for a second at the thing in his stomach, and then his eyes went to me. They seemed to say, "Why have you done this?" And then, he fell over to the side, bringing me down with him.

I pulled myself up off the ground almost as soon as I had gone down. Speed was of the essence. I couldn't spend time laying here in the dirt with this dead giant of a man. I reached down and pulled my sword out of him and wiped it on the grass, then tucked it back in its sheath. Well, he was dead. "So sorry, Baba," I said to his corpse. "But I have a mission to take care of, and you stood in my path." When I finished saying those words, I bent down and tried to lift the axe. Jeez! How could any person manage this thing? I had been right, it was about 200 pounds. Holy moly. Well, I needed this thing, since it was Baba's symbol and all that nonsense, so with a titanic effort I hoisted the axe up and onto my shoulders, my legs bowing nearly all the way to the ground from the added weight. This was going to a trip and a half, going back to Coursair like this. I prayed to the Dragon God that he would lend me his strength so I could make it back there. And, as I went out of the forest and into the fields, I believe he did, for my load seemed to get lighter as I progressed.

Once I made it back to town, I immediately headed for the bar to tell Rand what happened had transpired in the last few hours. When I went in, he was there, standing at his usual spot. I was relieved, but a little puzzled. It was still early, and yet, here he was. Hopefully he hadn't been here this whole time just waiting for me. I walked over to him, noting the stares Jack and Jim gave me as I walked by them.

"Hey, what's up, Rand? How you doing?"

He turned and stared down at me. "Oh, hey, Ryu. I see you accomplished your task. Good job, mate. I was beginning to worry you had become another of Baba's victims. Did you see the mountain of skulls he had? Pretty gruesome, eh?"

"Yeah, I saw them alright. He tried to use them to scare me off, but I held my ground and did battle with him. He didn't turn out to be as hard as I thought he would. I mean, he was quite intimidating to look at, but in reality, he was too slow to use his power effectively. So, thus, I killed him, and took his monster of an axe with me. Now, I can go in and register as Baba and fight that little girl who's in there. After I beat her, I'll question her, to see if she knows anything. And from there, who knows, right, man?"

"Yep, you're right. Now, you might want to hurry up and go register. Time's a-running out on your chances to do so, so go on and do it now."

"Righto. After I do that, I'll come back and keep you company until the fight's ready to start."

"Uh, sorry, Ryu. You can't. Once you get register, you have to take some kind of test. If you pass, you get assigned a locker room, and you are forced to stay there until the time comes. However, you can have visitors, so if I'm not too drunk by then, I'll come by around 6:30ish. Fight starts at 7, so you have no need to worry about getting me in trouble. Now get going. I'll see you soon."

"Okay." I hopped off the stool, lifted the axe back onto my shoulder, and strutted out into the streets. It was time to get ready to rumble.


	5. Fighting for Answers

Fighting for Answers

As I approached the coliseum, I once again stopped to just gaze at it. It was overwhelming, really, to see something that big. Seeing things like that really make you realize just how small you actually are in the big scheme of things. Truly a moving experience for one to see such a sight. But, alas, I had not the time for such things now; I had a fight to win, after all. I straightened my back, held my head up, and briskly walked through the coliseum doors.

The second I walked in, I noted a sudden shift in both temperature and atmosphere. Outside, it had been nice and warm temperature-wise, and the locals had been quite friendly with me. In here, though, it was freezing temperature-wise, and I felt unwanted and shunned in here. As I looked around, I saw nothing of interest, except for a few nice fountains. There was only one person other than me in the lobby, and that was the receptionist, who was engrossed in what appeared to be a thoroughly entertaining piece of literature. From what I guessed by taking a quick glance at her, she was not a person to be trifled with. I could tell that she was one of those stereotypical secretaries you always hear about but never really see: the old farts who just sit around their cramped little offices all day, never get out to breathe some fresh air, have a rotten attitude, think everyone's out to get them, hate all people, especially their bosses, etc, etc. In other words, a mean lady. I directed a small, nervous smile her way (she probably didn't notice, though), walked slowly up to her desk, and tapped the bell lightly to make my presence known.

Hearing the ring, she jumped a little, then quickly settled back into reading her book. Only after a few seconds did she seem to realize what had happened, and once she did, she quickly put her book down and looked up. Seeing it was just a petty citizen, and not someone important, like her boss, she stared down her crooked nose at me, her facial features indicating she didn't think very highly of me at all.

"Yes, sir, may I help you?" she inquired in a nasal tone that didn't make it sound like she wanted to do what she had asked.

"As a matter of fact, ma'am, you can. You see, I'm Baba, over from the Tag Woods, and I have a fight scheduled for tonight. Now, my friend said something about having to register before I fight. I was wondering if you might be the person to talk to about that?"

"I am, indeed, sir. Here." With that abrupt finish, she shoved a piece of paper at me that had been lying near her. "Please fill out the sheet, and make you sign on the dotted line. That's the most important part, after all. I will tell you what to do once you have finished." Completing her speech, she cast her head down again and resumed her reading.

"Oh. Ok. Thank you, ma'am." I looked down at the form. I had never formally taken classes on how to write, but I had seen Bow do it plenty of times, so it wouldn't be that hard.

The first line said "Name," followed by a long line. That was a little hard. Hmmm. What could Baba's last name be? I decided to make something up. "Baba Whittaker," I carefully wrote. I could have picked something better, but since Baba was dead now, he wouldn't come after me for getting his name wrong.

If this thing was all that simple as just filling out blanks, then I had nothing to worry about. I scanned it all, just to make sure it kept to the simple plan, and, seeing it did, quickly filled the rest of it out, doing my best to make my handwriting legible.

I finished with a flurry, making my signature practically unreadable. That way, no one could trace me. When I was through, I looked up, and, seeing the lady was still reading, cleared my throat loudly.

"What? What?" She was genuinely surprised. She probably had thought I had left the room. Stupid fool. After she finished glancing all around the room, as if looking out for creatures that would attack from the sky, she reverted her gaze to me, and then to my paper I held out. "Oh. I see you have finished. Well, let me see it." I gave it to her without a word.

"Uh-huh…hmmm…very interesting…" She was worrying me. I couldn't remember putting anything down that would cause her to say such things. I started tapping my foot to signify both my nervousness and my impatience to the receptionist. My fight was set to begin in an hour, and I still had to take my test. Hopefully, that wouldn't take too long, and I could get started on time.

"Okay, sir, I'm done." The receptionist stuck her hand out, the paper clenched tightly in it. I yanked it out, and was about to ask where to go now when she answered my unspoken question. "Go to the right, head up, and you'll see a door. Go through there and talk with the girl there. Give her the papers and she should send you to take your test. Good luck, Mr. Whittaker."

"Thank you, ma'am." I turned to my right and headed where she told me. When I arrived in the room, I saw there was another receptionist, but this one looked a lot more friendly than the one in the lobby. She also looked to actually be doing something related to work, rather than just sitting on her arse reading a book. I walked up to her desk and laid the paper down. Evidently, she was not used to people doing that to her, for she uttered a little scream and threw her pen up in the air. I watched it sail up and behind her, and then reverted my gaze to her.

"Hi, miss. I was wondering if you could possibly help me with something," I began smoothly. First impressions are always important, you know? I continued. "You see, I just got this registration paper from the receptionist in the lobby, and after I filled it out and gave it to her, she looked it over, gave it back to me, and said to come in here. She said you were supposed to send me where I could take my test. Can you, please?"

"Why, yes sir, I can and I will." Now she took the papers from my hand, gave them a very brief once-over, and tossed them aside. "Right, then, Mr. Whittaker, step straight through that door to the north. Don't go in the one to the right. At least, not yet. If you pass, you can come back here and then I'll see if Mr. Augus can see you. Good luck, sir."

I nodded in gratification. "Thank you, ma'am." I strode over to the door and yanked it open, revealing…nothing. It was dark as all hell in there. Who knew what could possibly be in there? I was scared. Maybe this test thing was all a trick. Or even this whole fight thing could be some huge scam. Maybe some guys would jump me and take my wallet, or worse, kill me. Maybe (and I shuddered at this thought), the great eye waited for me in there. _No!_ I told myself. _Nothing like that would ever happen. These weren't the kind of people who would do such things to a boy like me. They might be money-hungry, as many are, but they wouldn't kill. I'm sure of it._ Just in case, though, I offered a quick prayer to Ladon, loosened my sword from its sheath, and proceeded forth into the void, noting with a feeling of dread the closing of the door behind me. Maybe something would happen, after all.

But nothing did. The lights flickered on, and in the little illumination they provided, I could make out a shape against the far wall. Whoever (or whatever) had shut the door was gone now, and the shape and I were apparently the only ones here. I walked forward, my legs shaking like leaves in the wind.

As I got closer, I saw that the shape was a human. And I could also see that this guy was **buff.** I mean, he looked like a human version of Rand, only a lot shorter. He wasn't wearing anything but a loincloth, and I could see his muscles popping out everywhere I looked. He seemed to be either chained to the wall or something like that, for I could make out chain links on his hands. His face was totally blank, with not even a trace of an expression to be found. He could be good or bad, I couldn't really tell.

I nervously approached. "Uh, uh, uh, e-e-excuse m-me, sir, but I was told to come in here for a test." Curses. I stuttered. I had never stuttered before in my life. Oh well. He probably didn't care too much.

He stared at me blankly for a second, then came alive. "What's your name?" he demanded suddenly.

"Uh, Ry- er, Baba, sir. Baba Whittaker."

His eyebrows raised slightly. "The Baba? The self-proclaimed 'king of Tag Woods?' You're Baba?"

Uh-oh. He suspected something. He had probably seen Baba before or something. Might as well try to fake it. "That's right, sir, I am," I said, trying my best to sound manly. "And tonight, I have a fight scheduled. I'd, uh, like to get to it soon, please."

He nodded slowly. "Hmmm. You're totally different from what I expected. But, that's how it goes sometimes.

And yes, you are correct. You are indeed on the list for a fight tonight against the reigning champion. Of course, you know you must take a test first, but we'll get to that in a sec. First, Baba, let me tell a few things about this whole thing.

My name is Jaal Hergo, and I'm the HR director for the coliseum. That's Human Resources, in case you didn't know. In addition to my various other duties, I administer a test to every wannabe participant. If they fail, they go home, or sometimes, they die; either way, they're replaced by the next fighter in the list, and so on if that person fails. If they pass, of course, they go on to fight. Let's hope you're a guy who can manage the latter choice." He flashed a toothy grin at me, one probably inclined to make me feel better but that actually made me a lot more nervous. "Well, anyways," he continued, "let's get started, Baba. I know you're in a rush, so I'll make this quick." With those words, he became absolutely motionless. His arms hung limply at his sides, but his eyes blazed intently at me. What was this…?

"All right, Baba," he began slowly. "Here it is. I want you to strike me down. That's your test. I am defenseless, and you have your sword with you. Go ahead. I won't be mad. Come on. You haven't got all day."

I was baffled. He wanted me to kill him? Huh? Well, I couldn't do that. He had nothing to fight back with; I couldn't stand killing helpless people or things. I shook my head at him, signaling I wouldn't do it.

"Oh, come on," he scoffed. "What are you, a sissy? Come on and hit me. Show me your power. I promise, I won't even make a move to defend myself. I will stand stock-still right here. Go ahead."

He was trying to trick me, I just knew it. Something bad would happen if I tried to hurt him. I had to resist. Again, I shook my head, this time a little slower and forceful.

"No? You pansy! You must attack me or else you won't get to fight! Don't you see that? Now do it!" Man, he really wanted me to do this. He was practically on the ground begging for it.

I saw it, all right, and I didn't care if I did or didn't get a chance to compete. I could not kill a weaponless individual. Once more, I shook my head.

He sighed deeply. "All right, that's it. Get out of my sight. You don't have what it takes. Leave and never come back."

I was shocked. _WHAT!_ I thought. _How could he do this to me? After all that trouble I went to to defeat Baba, now he's rejecting me? I can't take that! I must strike him down now! _And I was really going to too, until the other, calmer version of my conscience whispered its words of wisdom into my ear.

_Just leave. If you kill him now, you will become a wanted man for the rest of your life, and I'm sure you don't want that to happen, right? Then you'll be no better than that thief you're chasing. You all will be just two more criminals on the run. I suggest that you leave. I have a feeling that that fighter won't help much anyways._

That sounded a lot more reasonable. Without a word to my tester, I placed my sword back in its sheath, turned, and strode out of the room, calm as can be.

However, I was greeted by another surprise when I stepped out. The secretary must have heard my footsteps, for she turned to me and said, "Oh, Mr. Whittaker! You passed! That's wonderful. So many of the potential fighters fail! I'm glad to see you made it out alive and in one piece!" She was positively about to burst with happiness.

I, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused. How did I pass if he told me I failed? That didn't make sense, unless…

"Do you not understand how it worked, Mr. Whittaker? You see, Mr. Hergo is one of the deadliest hand-to-hand fighters in the world, though he appeared weaponless to you. If you had actually tried to kill him, as he instructed you to, you would have been dead in about 2 seconds, or, if he had taken a liking to you, seriously maimed. You made a wise decision, Mr. Whittaker. A lot of the potentials fail, but you took and passed the test admirably. Now, go ahead and step on over to that room I told you to ignore earlier. I contacted Mr. Augus, and he said it was okay for him to speak with you for a bit."

I was still dazed. That was a very cunning way of making people take a test. I wasn't so sure if I was happy I passed or not; if the rest was like that, I didn't think I would like to do it much more. I hated tricksters with a passion, but I hated getting duped by them even more. But, right now, I had nothing else to do, so I might as well go have a chat with that Augus fellow and see what was up. I walked over to the other door and knocked. "Come in," a smooth voice answered. Oh, great. It was one of those guys, like Kilgore; ones who had a very persuasive manner about them and tried to get me to do weird things. I muttered a few words under my breath and pushed the door open.

The room looked to be a study of some kind, and probably it was Augus' personal thinking room or something like that. I beheld an enormous stone fireplace at the back of the room. It was lit, but the fire burning in it was strangely blue rather than red-orange. Evidently Augus had thrown in some strange concoction and it had combined with the fire's particles to change its complexion. Or something like that. Whatever had happened, the result was neat. Overall, the room had a strange, but definitely vibrant, feel to it. I expected the man standing next to the fireplace would be just like it.

He looked up as I approached, a weird smile on his face. He looked slightly insane. What was with these people here, anyways? An irascible secretary, an over-enthusiastic receptionist, a martial-artist turned HR director, and now a mad manager? This place was really starting to bug me out. I wondered if the fighter would be in the same brand of weirdness as these people.

Besides the expression on his face, the man in front did appear to have the qualities of a crazy man. His hair, dark red, was spiked up all over his head, which looked to be about the size of a watermelon (I kid you not). His eyes glowed a fierce yellow, and when he smiled that smile of his, I could a helluva lot sharp, very pointy teeth in his mouth. His eyebrows were extremely thick and hairy, and he had a very-scruffy looking beard that was bare in a few places. Besides the hair on his face, he also had extremely hairy arms and legs, much more so than normal humans. His ears were normal, except for the left one, which looked like someone had taken a bite out of it. He wasn't exceptionally tall, but his actual height was diminished due to his being hunched over. His legs were splayed out at weird angles that made him look as if he was trying to do the splits. His clothing was ripped in several areas, as if he had suddenly entered a growth spurt. He looked to be pretty strong, but didn't have the intimidating presence that Jaal had. He looked very pale, as if he spent most of his time cooped up in this room.

Okay, now I really was freaked out. _Any guy that looks like that has got some problems with him_, I thought. _Let's just hope he doesn't try anything funny_. Once more, I prayed to Ladon to keep me safe, firstly, though, thanking him for delivering me safely from the testing room. I hoped he would do the same here

After giving me the welcome smile, Augus decided to shake hands with me. He lumbered over to where I was standing, straightened out his back, stood as tall as he could, and extended his hand. I looked at, a trifle warily, and saw that, like the rest of him, it was abnormal. The palm and the back of his hand, I noted, were fairly normal. But the nails were what were weird. They stretched for about two inches, and then suddenly curved to become these sharpened monstrosities. They looked like they had been filed to razor-sharp ends. I was very careful not to let them touch me when I reached out and accepted his shake. When I let go, I noted another strange thing. His skin had not felt smooth like normal humans, but rough and leathery, like Bow's. I was beginning to see something in my mind's eye, some hidden truth about Augus, but the image was not all there yet. I was sure I would figure it out eventually.

"Welcome to my office… Baba Whittaker," Augus began, his manner of talking consisting of drawing in a deep breath and, as he exhaled, saying as many words as he could before again taking a breath. As a result, it took him a while to say what he had to. Evidently, he had very weak lungs. Also, he was not nearly as smooth in his speech as I had first thought. Maybe he had just been trying to give that impression. He continued. "My secretary has told me… you passed your test. I offer… my congratulations." Here he paused, evidently waiting for me to say thanks to him.

I complied, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. "Thank you kindly, sir," I stated, making a bow with my head. "The test truly was hard, but I was able to refuse Mr. Hergo's request and pass it."

He nodded. "Yes. So many of… the people wanting to fight…fail. They are all so…violent. They always try to kill…poor Jaal. But…they have no idea…what he can do. Oh, well.

Getting to your fight. It…is tonight, correct? And…it starts soon, right?" I nodded once. "All right. Well… before you go, let me… tell you a few things… about it.

You see…Baba. The fight has already…been set. You will be…the winner."

_WHAT?_ my mind screamed to me. _This is NOT sounding good, not at all. Hear him out, but if he pulls any funny stuff, get out of here immediately._

He continued. "You see… the fighter you will battle…Katt is her name… she has been the champion… too long. She is still… quite popular, but I feel… her time is up. She… has reached the apex… of her popularity already… and from here, she… can only decline. You see… people grow tired of… seeing the same person… win all the time. You, though, … are new. People don't know… about you. You are a… fresh face, one that… we can market better… The crowds are in decline lately… You need to be our savior, Baba.

"Everyone… will come to the fight… to see Katt win again. However… you and I know you… will be the victor. The crowd… will undoubtedly boo you… at first, but soon, … they will accept you. Make you… one of them. This is… how it has always worked.

"However… you will not knockout… or kill the girl, as… is the custom. We have… prepared a poison for her… to be administered while you… are fighting. We have positioned… several men in the crowd… who will fire poison darts… at her, regardless if… you are winning or losing. That way… she is knocked out, and you… are declared the winner. And… then I will… take care of her." He grinned, again flashing those scary canines of his. "Do you accept… this proposal? Or will… you go home, not wanting… to take part in such… a thing?"

I took in a deep breath. This was big. Did I want to go along with this dastardly plan, or take the righteous way out? This wasn't technically terrible, since this Katt person wasn't going to die, but I hated winning cheaply. I always tried to do my best, whether it was good enough or not.

That was it. I had it. I would accept his proposal, but during the fight, I would knock this person out of the way of the darts, and keep out of their way myself. That way, there would be no winner or loser, and no one would get hurt. I didn't like this Augus man one bit, and so I didn't have one inkling of regret about my plan. If it worked, maybe this girl could help me out. Maybe not, but if that was the case, I was down with it.

I nodded to the man. "Yes, sir, I accept. I will fight Katt long enough so that the crowd gets a good fight, and then I will allow you to have your way with it."

He smiled. "Good, sir, very good… Thank you for your… cooperation. You may go… get ready now." With that, he went over to his table and sat down, evidently waiting for me to leave. I did, slowly closing the door behind me.

The secretary looked over at me. "Oh, sir. I'm glad everything's going so well for you. Now that you've taken your test and talked to Mr. Augus, you're all set for your fight! All you need to do now is go to your locker room and talk to the guard. The locker area connects to the arena, so once you get there, you'll be set. Good luck, Mr. Whittaker!"

"Uh, thanks." I wasn't in the mood for a lot of talking right now. I had to get over there fast. I nodded my head graciously at her, and left the room, thinking all the way to the locker room.

When I got there, I received yet another surprise. My huge friend Rand was chatting with the guard over at the opposite end of the room. What was he doing here? Oh, yeah. I had forgotten. He had promised to meet me over here so he could give moral support and what not. Well, that was good that he had shown. Now, maybe he could help me with this dilemma of mine.

I wandered over to where he was. "Excuse me, sir," I said to the guard. "But could I borrow this guy here? It'll only take a second."

"What? Oh, sure, man. No problem. Hey, listen Rand, I'll catch up with you later."

"All right, Mark, that's cool with me." After he said that, Mark turned and left the room. Once he was gone, Rand turned his massive body around so he could talk to me. "What do you want, Ryu?"

I told him, as quickly as I could, all the important events that had transpired since I had arrived in the coliseum. As I talked, his blank expression turned into a frown, and that frown into an angry look. When I got to the end, he got and paced around the room frantically, his face still a thundercloud.

"What the hell is Augus trying to pull?" he burst out with uncharacteristic emotion. "Poison Katt! What good can possibly go his way if he does that? What sick, twisted thing is his mind thinking of? I'm worried about this, Ryu. Real worried I don't personally know Katt, but this is serious. I don't think the authorities here are going to do anything. All of them are under his thumb, according to what I've been told. We're going to have to do this ourselves, Ryu.

Now, I have an idea. It's not perfect, but it's the best we can do now. I will go to a wizard friend of mine and ask him to concoct two antidotes for me. One for you, and one for Katt. You can take one here, before you go fight, and I'll try to give Katt the other one. Hopefully, she'll understand and not mistake me for some nutjob."

He looked at his watch for a brief second. "Okay, it's 6:47. That's 13 minutes for me to go and get the stuff, come back here, and give it to you two. I'm heading out now. Stay here. Be patient. If I'm not back in time, go ahead with the fight. Just try your best to keep you and Katt safe, okay?"

"Yeah, I got it, man. Now run! Go!"

"Right." With that, he turned, and he did a strange thing. He got down on the ground, as if about to sit, then brought his head forward between his legs. It looked weird, but what happened next was even weirder. As he sat there, he slowly started to spin. The spin grew faster and faster each second, until he was just a screaming ball of gray and purple. When he reached this stage, he suddenly rocketed out of the room, so fast that when I blinked, he was gone.

I was amazed. I had never seen anybody travel in such a manner, or ever do it so fast. And I certainly had not thought Rand was capable of moving above a slug's speed. The day had been full of surprises. But now, the excitement was through, at least for a few minutes. I had to gather my wits about me and gets focused for my duel with Katt. She would probably be tough, so I had to be ready. I took my sword out and started practicing a little, just passing time until Rand returned.

----------------------------

"Yo, Ryu! Whoa, watch out, man!"

He had caught just as I was doing a 360, and I had stupidly positioned myself near the door. I grinned sheepishly at him as I put my sword away. "Sorry, Rand. Just got a little bored."

"Yeah, well, take it easy. You nearly gutted me there. You need to be more careful with that sword."

"Right, right. So did you get the antidotes?"

"Yeah, right here, man." He reached down into his pocket and pulled out two vials containing a yellow liquid. They didn't look particularly appeasing. He handed one to me. "There you go. Drink up, my boy."

I eyed the container warily. The fluid looked more like poison than an antidote. "Rand, do you absolutely trust this wizard friend of yours?" I asked. No sense taking chances.

"Definitely. He has saved my skin many times over the years. Just drink it already. He wouldn't mess up on such an important concoction. I trust Mack with my life. Now do it!"

"Alright, alright." I took one last glance at the stuff, sighed, and chugged it in one gulp. Ughhhhh. That tasted really nasty. That had to mean it was really a true medicine. I doubled over for a few seconds, feeling I must just toss it all back up, but I refrained from doing so. "Well, Rand," I croaked out as I stood hunched over. "I took it. Now go give the other one to Katt. The fight's going to start real soon, after all. Her room is just outside and to the right, so get going. I'm going to stay like this for awhile. I don't think I can move."

I could make out that he was moving towards the door. I heard him open it, and then say "I'm sorry, Ryu. I know the medicine's tough to take, but it will keep you safe, so it's for the best. I'll be right back. Just stay here." With that, he left.

There was golden silence for a few moments, and then I decided to try something. I made an effort to hop over to the wall beside me, but, being as I was still doubled over, I only managed one hop before crashing to the floor. Ouch. Well, now that I was down, I might as well get up and take my pain like a man. I rose to my feet, wincing at the ache in my ankle and stomach, and pressed my ear up to the wall. It sounded like Rand was having a hard time in there. I heard his voice, sounding very scared, ask Katt if he could tell her something important. Then, an angry female voice called out, but I couldn't make out the words, for she spoke them extremely fast. After that, a brief silence descended upon the two, and then I could hear a "thwack, thwack" of something hitting someone. Well, Rand hadn't had any weapons when he left, so I guessed Katt was laying the smackdown on him. That didn't sound good.

Suddenly the door to my room burst open, and Rand rushed in, slamming it behind him. He was gasping for breath, and I could see a lot of bruises forming all over him. He came over to where I was, still gasping, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ryu," he panted. "She wouldn't take it. Heck, she wouldn't even hear me out. She thought I was a robber, so she smacked me around. That staff of her hurts like hell. You better watch out for it.

Anyways, here. I don't want this antidote to go to waste, so I want you to take it." I gaped at him. Another one of those terrible things? He saw my face and nodded. "Yeah, I know they're terrible, but hear me out, for I have a plan. You take both, then, when the poison darts are fired, push her out of the way and take the darts yourself. That way, you are both protected. It's our only plan now. Now, take the antidote and get out there."

"Right." I took the vial from his outstretched hand, looked it over, and drank it. Again, I was gripped by a sudden pain in my midsection, but this time I knew what was coming and didn't mind it so much. I did desperately wish I had a drink, though. That would have helped it go down so much easier. Ah, well. I could make it without one. I gave a sickly smile to my buddy.

He grinned. "That's the way to do it, Ryu. Just suck it up. Good man. Now, the fight's about to start. Are you ready? You remember what to do, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Rand, I'm definitely ready, and yes, I remember. I haven't been this excited since I left Gate." And that was true. Though my outward emotions did not show it, I was jumping for joy in my heart. Finally, I could show my fighting skills to a huge audience. They would see the true power of Ryu Bateson unleashed on this poor little girl. Pity it had to be a girl. I hated harming them, but in this case, I had to make an exception.

I walked over to the double door signifying the entrance to my little alcove in the arena. I turned, faced Rand, gave him a salute, and marched out into the arena.

As soon I got in, I was overwhelmed by the sheer energy the crowd was putting out. It was unbelievable. They were yelling and screaming like there was no tomorrow. I figured most of it was probably for my competitor, but that was okay with me. Soon, the cheering would be for me.

Suddenly the crowd began to make hushed noises. I guessed it was almost time to start. My chance was finally here, to prove myself as a worthy adversary to the one of best fighters in the world.

Suddenly, some music began to play, the kind that always get played at these kinds of events: the loud, blaring, up-beat music that's mostly tunes and not words. I like that stuff. It was interesting. And since it usually signaled the introductions, I figured I was ready to make my entrance.

A booming voice came out of nowhere. "And, now, ladies and gents, the big moment has come. As we get ready to start this fight, let's first give a big, hearty welcome to its two contestants!

First, in the left corner over here, standing 6'3", weighing 210 pounds, and hailing from the town of Gate, give it up for the king of Tag Woods, Baba Whittaker!" Twin bright lights flashed on and aimed themselves my way, illuminating my body so that the crowd could see what I looked like.

All right! I was first to be introduced. Yes! "Thank you, thank you!" I cried, waving my arms around, though not in a disorderly fashion, but rather elegantly. The crowd loved me for the most part, but there was the occasional "Baba sucks!" thrown in. I could deal with those haters though. As long as the majority was on my side, I would be fine.

"Baba is a first-time contestant here, people," the announcer continued. "Let's make sure to keep cheering him on as he battles our reigning champion.

And speaking of our champ, here she is. At 5'7" and a mere 140 pounds, she is clearly outmatched by Baba in size, but can she use her small size as an advantage? Time will tell. Here she is, the reigning champion of Coursair, hailing from the Woren tribe, Ms. Katt!"

Two more light flickered on and pointed themselves towards Katt, allowing me my first glimpse of her.

Well, I had to say, she was aptly named. She certainly did have many feline characteristics. Her fur was yellow, with orange stripes going all the down to her feet. Her hair on her head was a bright red to contrast the rest of her. Her tail, which looked to be about half her body height, was twitching nervously. From here, it was hard to make out, but it did appear as if she had clawed hands and feet. Her attire was almost entirely purple, from her boots to her gauntlets to her vest. For the most part, she looked like a friendly person.

Her weapon unnerved me greatly, though. It was a huge staff, with an emerald fixated near the tip, that featured five claws, each bent enough so that if you were hit by it, they would all rake you. Rand was right. That staff would be hell to deal with. I would have to be very cautious.

Well, the crowd was still screaming itself hoarse by this time, so the announcer got on again so he could calm them. "Now, now, ladies and gents, that's enough. We have to start the fight now. Once it begins, cheer as long and as loud as you want. But, for now, we must have minimal silence."

The audience complied. The announcer continued. "Baba, Katt, please step forward and shake hands."

I promptly stepped forward, ready to get this over with, but Katt stayed back for a few seconds. Evidently, she distrusted me. That wasn't good. After a little bit, though, she sighed and came towards me.

"Now, go ahead and shake, guys," the announcer commanded. We did, letting go as quickly as possible. However, as Katt was turning around, I had an idea. I would try to tell her about the poison now. "Psst, hey, Katt."

She stopped and wheeled around. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"Look, there's not much time, so I'll explain fast. Augus, the manager, has told me that he's going to send poison darts flying at you about halfway through the fight. He claims your time is up here. Now what I want to do is this: as we're fighting, I'm going to keep a lookout for the dart-throwers. When I see them get ready, I'll shove you out of the way. I've already taken two antidotes, so I can handle being poisoned. Will you let me do this?"

She frowned, then bared her teeth. That didn't look very friendly at all. "Are you crazy or something, dude?" she exploded. "You're just trying to trick me into giving up, aren't you? You lousy bastard! Just wait till we fight. I will have no mercy whatsoever. Don't even think about leaving here alive, buddy. I can't stand liars, especially ones that try to make me lose, like you. Prepare yourself." Her speech through, she crouched down low in a fighter's stance, her stick held in one hand, and her eyes glaring daggers at me.

Whoops. I had really upset this girl. Well, I had tried. Now, I would have to be very careful when I knocked her out of the way. She would not like it at all, and would probably try to bite or claw me.

I, too, assumed my position. I drew out my sword and gave it a few test swings. She couldn't attack until the announcer gave the go-ahead, so I was safe for now. However, he would be saying it was time any moment now, so I quickly steadied myself and got a good firm grip on the handle of my sword.

"And the moment is upon us, ladies and gents. Rise to your feet. The fight will start in 5…4…3…2…1… Begin, fighters!"

Well, that was pretty sudden. As soon as the word "fighters" was out of the man's mouth, Katt went into action. She was already crouched and ready, so when the word was given, she sprung out as fast as I had ever seen anybody move and bowled me over. Right when I went down, she leapt on me and tried to claw my face. I managed to kick her off before she could do any serious damage.

I popped up off the floor as soon as I had freed myself and made a grab for my sword, which I had thrown away when I had been tackled. Katt saw me move and tried to get to it first, but I still managed to get a hold of it, though I did get scratched up in the process. I leapt back, the tip of my blade near her throat. I felt sure the fight was near over. Now I wouldn't have to worry about the poison, since I had beaten her so fast.

However, I failed to notice she still had her staff in hand. She brought it carefully up, and just as I cornered her, she struck my forearm with it, causing great pain to me, let me assure you. It hurt like a bitch, but I didn't let go of my sword. However, after she hit me again, then I did.

Seeing I was weaponless, Katt advanced on me, staff raised high in the air, ready to deal the killing blow. But as she brought her weapon down, I reacted faster than I thought I could. The instant before the claws made contact with my head, I whipped around to the right, and as I was spinning, delivered a powerful backhand to her head. The blow staggered her, but amazingly, she still hung on to her weapon. However, that didn't matter, as now I had time to go retrieve mine. I picked it up, and as I did, turned and delivered an upward slash, determined to cut her deeply enough to end the fight.

She was expecting that, however. She had aligned her staff horizontally so that when my sword came up, it just made contact with the middle portion of her weapon. This left me open for a split second, and she took advantage of this to whack me on the side of the face, tearing five long scratches down it.

Shoot. I was losing big time. I hadn't even scored but one hit, and she had gotten five already. I had to act faster, or else I wouldn't make it.

I brought my sword back to its normal position, which was right in front of me, and made a desperate stab towards her unprotected midsection. I was expecting she would block it right before it made contact, but amazingly she didn't. I halted myself from pushing it any farther in, though. I had no intention of killing her; after all, I didn't know yet if she could give me answers or not about my mysterious thief.

But she did something unexpected. She must have known I wouldn't kill her, for she had deliberately allowed herself to become open. Just as my blade homed in on her stomach, she was drawing back her staff to deliver a huge blow to my head. I looked up just in time to see the "palm" of the staff coming my way. It struck me, and I dropped like a sack of potatoes to the floor.

I was finished. I knew it. Katt had been too good. I was a fool for thinking I could compete with the likes of her. Why had I been so stupid?

I heard her approaching my prone form. She had said she was going to kill me, after all, so I guess there was no way out. I just didn't want to die defeated like this, but I had to, I guess. Fate, you know? I looked up into her face, and beyond. There, in the background, I saw something that gave me instant rejuvenation.

The dart-throwers were all lined up. I could see the sharpened tips of their projectiles gleaming in the dimness. Their leader had his hand raised, and I assumed if he let his hand down, the darts would come flying down and knockout Katt. I couldn't let that happen, even if she had just beat the royal hell out of me. I knew what I had to do.

As she brought her staff hurtling towards my back, I shifted my legs slightly to give me a "warm-up" position, like the kind runners have. I accepted the blow that she dealt me, not willingly in the slightest, but I knew it wouldn't hurt on bad on my back as it would my face.

Gritting my teeth, I launched myself into Katt's legs, knocking her over. Quickly (and still with the staff stuck in my back), I got up, and dragged her over to the alcove she came in from. Here we would be safe.

Or so I thought. Augus had evidently placed more dart-throwers in the crowd than the ones I saw. There looked to be about 10 on each side, all of them firing. Of course seeing as how we were in this sheltered area, none of them could reach us.

Except for one guy's. As I scoped out the scene, I caught a glimpse of one guy, on the direct opposite side of this alcove and on top of the balcony, getting ready to fire his missile. He did, and it sped straight towards Katt. I gave a yell, reached out and allowed the dart to pluck my arm. Hmm. That wasn't so bad. What had Rand gotten so upset about? Oh yeah, I had forgotten. I had taken the antidotes, so of course it wouldn't affect me. Duh. I was stupid.

I was getting drowsy. The antidotes must have protected me from the actual poison, but the little things must still have affected me. I made up my mind to talk with Rand about this magician friend of his, and tell him to see if his friend could do a better job next time.

Now, I was about to drop off. The last thing I saw was Katt peering anxiously at me. Good. She…finally…understood……what…… I…..had…..been……..saying……


	6. The Truth About Augus

The Truth About Augus

_There I was, lying unconscious, swimming in eternal darkness. How the hell had I gotten here again? Ah, yes, that's right. I had saved Katt's life and took those stupid poison needles myself. Man, I really needed to stop being in the "hero" business. It was always me that had to pay the price, and no one else. Ever. Period. Even my buddies (Bow comes to mind here) always manage to slip out and get the easy things to do. I mean, which you would do: stay at a house and do some easy repairs; or go out in the wide world, intent on finding a thief, but end up fighting a crazy woodcutter, meeting some nutjobs in a coliseum, fighting a cat-girl practically to the death, and winding up unconscious? I know which one I would pick._

_Oh, well. All this craziness is going to be good for me in the long run, I suppose. Maybe I could "discover myself" in my journeys, as the philosophers say. That would be cool to have happen. Just be out chilling on the road, and then suddenly say "I got it!", and go off and become a doctor or a preacher or whatever. That stuff happens all the time, let me tell you. I've seen it with my own two eyes._

_Anyhow, back to my current situation. Seeing as how I thought I was pretty much invincible against the poison, what with the double antidotes and all, it came as a great surprise to me that I had been knocked out by it. It must have been incredibly powerful; if I had not taken the antidotes, I would likely be dead. I needed to thank Rand as soon as I snapped out of this._

_And I also needed to have a little chat with my friend, Augus. I hadn't been thinking at all when I agreed to his sadistic plot, that was true, but the whole thing was his fault, not mine. He already had had the idea cooked up in his devious brain, and I was but a pawn. I needed to snap out of this thing quick so I could teach that dude a lesson he wouldn't soon forget._

_What was that? I heard noises. Sounded like someone was talking. That was a good sign. If I could hear things, then that probably meant I was coming back to life. Thank the Dragon Lord. When I had first been knocked out, I thought I would stay like that forever._

_Hmm. I heard a voice close to me. Who was talking? The voice sounded distinctly feminine. That narrowed it to four choices: the innkeeper, either of the two secretaries, or Katt. Only two stood out in my mind as being concerned for my health. But I had a feeling it was Katt. After all, she had seemed genuinely worried there at the end, and she had realized that I had spoken the truth and not a lie. She was probably here to apologize or something._

_Well, it was time to get up. I could dwell on my thoughts later. If I didn't get up soon, Augus might hit the road, and then I would be left with this burning rage towards him still in me._

_That did it for me. Now I knew I had to get up right NOW._

_But, of course, I didn't want to startle Katt, or whoever it was, by just popping up and saying "Yo." No, it had to be subtle._

I opened my eyes tentatively, fearing the lights would be on. They were, and my pupils were immediately greeted with a painful flood of luminescence. I hated it when that happened. Oh, well, I could live with it.

I lay there for a few seconds, not sure where Katt's position in the room was exactly. Her voice had sounded close, but as I looked to the side, ever so slightly, she appeared to be in the corner. Hmm. Must have been my sensitive hearing that caused it to sound so near.

She was still talking, apparently. As I strained to listen, I caught bits and pieces of her self-dialogue, such as "Baba" followed by some mumbles. Evidently she was talking to herself about me. Probably thinking of a good apology to make or something like that. That was thoughtful. Usually, people just blurt out the first thing that pops into their mind, and often, it's not very nice.

Well, I made a mistake. Not a huge one, but a mistake nonetheless. As I attempted to listen in to Katt's monologue, I began to inch closer and closer to her so that I could listen better. My hearing's awesome, true, but not even it could catch everything she said. Anyways, as I moved, I forgot a little something: I was still on a bed. And that bed was only about seven feet wide. Just when I had achieved a perfect position, I felt myself start to slide off. It was only my upper half at first, but once that got down, the rest came tumbling right along. I found myself on the bare wooden floor, staring up at the ceiling. That had not turned out right one bit.

As soon as I had thumped to the floor, I heard Katt give a little scream. Obviously, she had totally forgotten I was even there. That was fine with me. I was used to being ignored.

Laying there, looking up at the lights, I suddenly found myself staring face-to-face with my gladiatorial competitor from a few hours ago. Her eyes were extremely large right then. "Are you all right?" she ventured hesitantly.

"Uh…yeah. I think so."

She smiled. "Good, I had hoped so. The poison's worn off, then?"

Now that she mentioned it, I did feel quite a bit more refreshed than when the needles had struck. "Yep," I offered. I wasn't too big on making conversation right after I had come out of unconsciousness.

"All right. Here, let me help you up." She held out her hand to me.

I took it and pulled myself up. "Thanks," I said.

"No problem. Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Um, well, you see, I wasn't very nice to you back there in the arena. I know we were fighting each other, but that gave me no reason to act the way I did. And now I see you were telling the truth about the poison. I didn't believe you because it sounded so silly. I thought, why would Augus try to get rid of me? I'm the star of this place. Everyone comes to see me. It would be stupid to get rid of me now, at the height of my popularity. So you can see where I would think you were lying, right?"

"Definitely. I completely understand. I would have felt the exact same way."

"Great. Well, now I want to take this moment to thank you for saving my life back there. Thank you, Baba, for what you did. You didn't have to, seeing as how I had spurned you earlier. But you did, and I truly appreciate it. Also, I want to make it up to you."

"How?"

"Well, I imagine you're as mad about this whole thing as I am, right? So I'm going to go have a talk with the manager about this. You said he had told you about it, right? He's probably been plotting it for weeks, that rotten bastard. Just wanted to brush me aside and get someone else, eh? Well, it didn't work, and now, I've got a bone to pick with him. You want to join in?"

She had hit on the exact same thing I had been thinking about. Eerie. But, still, I would probably need help against him, just in case we came to blows. "I'll gladly accept your offer," I said. "I was thinking earlier about going to see him myself, but now, I can have help."

"Great." She turned and begin walking away, then whipped back around. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she queried. "Let's go."

"Right, right." And I followed her, trying hard to keep up with her fast pace. Man, she really was mad about this. I didn't blame her. How would you feel if someone tried to kill you? Not good, I imagine. I only hoped Augus was ready for a beatdown, because one was surely coming his way…

-----------------------

As we made it into the coliseum, it seemed unnaturally quiet. The secretary in the lobby had departed, and as we moved closer to the desk, we saw papers were scattered all over the place. Evidently, she had been sent packing in a hurry. Katt and I exchanged uneasy glances.

Walking along the hallway that led to the upper room, which in turn led to Augus' office, we saw more unnatural things adorning the area. The pillars, for example, which had once been without blemish, now stood crumbling away at every possible area. The floor, once clean and shining, now were scuffed and dingy, and here and there, spots of something that looked very similar to blood appeared. The fountain in the corner, which had been filled with pure water last time I had come in, was now itself teeming with red liquid. We saw more papers strewn about, also blotted with the strange red stuff, and my gut told me those too belonged to the lobby receptionist. Much as I had despised her, I hadn't wished her dead. But maybe, something else did. Something violent and incredibly powerful. That something had been through here, all right, and had gone on a rampage. Whatever it was, I prayed to Ladon that it was gone now. But even I had little faith that it was.

When we got to the door, a horrible sight met our eyes. I had still been glancing around, but Katt brought my attention around to the front with a shrill screech. I whipped my eyes around, and was instantly sorry I had. For there, on the door, was the secretary. Only now, she was headless, and the whole front of her was soaked in blood. The rest of her body had severe scratch marks everywhere, but mostly on the arms. She had probably tried to shield her face or something, but it didn't work. I looked away quickly, for I hated the sight of blood, but averted my gaze back just as fast when I saw her head, eyes wide with shock, rolling ever so slightly off to the left.

We had a really big problem on our hands, to say the least. Whatever it was, it was mean, it was murderous, and it was probably still hungry for a kill. I looked over at Katt, saw she was looking at me, and gave her a solemn nod, which she returned. I knew whatever was waiting for us in Augus' office would be some creature the likes of which we had never faced before. It would probably give us quite a good challenge. But, no matter what, we had to defeat this monster, for if we didn't, it would keep pressing on this murderous path of its, and its appetite for destruction would likely never be fulfilled.

Well, it was time to proceed. Grimacing, we gingerly took the hanging body down from the door, being careful not to bend or break it. We hadn't really wanted to touch it in the first place, for two reasons: one, we wished to respect the dead, and two, we hated touching cold lifeless beings like that. It was just a nasty feeling. But we were forced to take it down, for it blocked the entrance to the room which led to Augus' study.

Having finished taking it down, we placed the body off to the left side, so that it could be close to its head once again. Once we were through with that, we proceeded cautiously through the door, knowing that anything might be waiting for us behind it.

And…nothing. This room had totally been untouched. And, unbelievably, the secretary was actually still at her desk, typing up some notes or something as if nothing had happened. Needless to say, I was quite astonished. The monster must have had something against the lobby receptionist, to have killed her so violently; but, for whatever reason, it had left this girl totally alone. Now, though, she became aware two people were standing around gawking at her, so she looked up at us.

"Is something the matter?" she asked innocently. "Oh, you saw what was out there, right? I imagine so. Otherwise, why would you look so shocked that I'm still alive and working while my counterpart is deader than a doornail? Well, I tell you why I am. I'm Augus' wife, that's why. Simple as that. Whenever he get in his rages, he has very big problems controlling himself, but around me, he's always careful. He knows what could easily happen to me if he messed up. However, that woman out there he had particularly disliked, so she was taken care of.

You can go talk to him, if you want to. He's in his office, chatting with some really big fellow. I'll bet you have the same questions for him as that guy, so go on in. But be careful. His thirst for blood might not have been quenched yet. So, please, don't upset him if you want to live. I'll be right here if you need anything else." She tried to smile pleasantly at us, but it appeared to be more of a sadistic smile to me than anything else.

I turned to Katt. "All right," I said, "here goes nothing. I'll go in first, and if he get me, just try your best to bring him down. No matter what happens, this killer will be brought to justice. So, let's go and give it all we got. You up for that?"

"Most definitely, Baba. Now, get your butt in there already. I can't wait to start knocking the hell out of this guy for what he did to me. Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay." I hastened my pace a little and went to the door. I loosened my sword from its sheath, gripped it handle tightly, and pushed the door open with my foot. I was ready for anything. I saw Katt tighten her grip on her staff out of the corner of my eye. Good. She too was getting prepared.

Still standing outside, I peered inside. The fireplace was still lit with that strange blue fire, and it illuminated the figures of Augus and Rand. The former looked very small next to the towering Shell, and I expected he felt at least a little nervous. However, when he spoke to Rand, it was still in that same rasping, slow way of his, with the exact same emotion in his voice as when he had talked with me. Hmmm. Evidently, he didn't get scared very easily.

I motioned Katt to go in. She did, and I followed her, knowing full well neither of us would get attacked just yet. We marched over behind Rand and stood waiting while Augus finished his speech.

To our surprise, he turned to us and greeted us with a big grin. "Well, well, so now… the two fighters have…arrived. Good. Now we can… finally get started. But, first… allow me to explain why… I have done these…things I have.

"You see…I am nothing but a… mere servant. A servant…of the great God. I…have been blessed by him…to be called one of his…elite followers. Only…a very few are…selected for that…position, you see. I had to…serve him for a…very long time before…he would grant me such…a ranking.

"Our God,…being so powerful and so…kind, grants powers to us…the elite. We are given…the abilities of the ancient demons. The demons… which have now begun to…return to this world. They…have returned to serve…our God and master. And they…have come in the form…of us, the elite followers. Each of us…have an alternate demon form…that we may switch to…at any time…These forms are what…allow us the full use…of our powers. Without them…we are powerless. Our God realized…this, and that is why we are…blessed with these powers.

"Now…getting to why I wanted…to kill Katt. Of course, Baba,…there are the reasons…I mentioned to you. The…inevitable decline in popularity…the need for a new face…all that played a role…in my decision.

"But most of all… it was because my God…has grown weak over…the years. He has lain dormant…a very long time and now…he wishes to return. His…comeback can only be aided…through sacrifices and the…evil feelings of people. And most often…the sacrifices are of those…who have great power. I…saw that Katt was…one who possessed immense…physical strength, so she…became my target. And now, I have…met you, Baba, and you…Rand; both of you also…wield enormous power. All three… of you sacrificed will…make my God happy indeed.

"And…of course, having such a…business set up here…where people come to watch others fight…and kill one another, is a…great benefit to our God. This… is a huge gathering place for…evil feelings. Every single negative feeling…a person has is…transferred directly to our God…and gives him energy. Soon, he…will have enough energy…to return to this world…in a physical form. For…right now, our God is… nothing more than a mere…spirit. He has no power…right now. But all the…power he needs will come…soon, and he will be back…to rule this world once more…And then, the entire world will…believe in our God."

Rand stepped forward quickly. "Hey, wait a second, freak," he began angrily. "What the hell do you think you're playing at? Sacrifices? Evil feelings? God? You're crazy, man! There's only one God in this world, and that's Ladon. And he's not evil in the slightest! So what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Answer me that!"

Augus stared blankly at him. "I have told you already…good sir Rand. I am…trying to get my God…back to this world so that…he can be ruler again. Ladon… has been king of this world… for far too long. He has… not the power that my God has, …so once my God returns, he… will crush Ladon into oblivion and re-assume…leadership.

"It has been a long time…since our God has been here. The last time…he was in a different form…than he is now…and sadly he was defeated…at the hands of eight heroes ... The defeat…set his return back to power…back a long ways. It took a very long time… to plan this return out…so thus…he is very happy to…have a chance to make his comeback. And no one,…especially those deemed to be…sacrifices will stop him!"

With those words, Augus quit speaking and began preparing for something. I saw him bend his head down, as if in prayer, and heard him speaking some strange language. I had a bad feeling we would soon be seeing Augus in an entirely different form. I was right.

Following his incantation, Augus looked up at us. His eyes, brightly yellow before, now shone as though a fire was lit inside him. He stood up as tall as he could, and I could see his clothes begin to tear. Something seemed to be moving in that huge head of his, and then a great crack appeared down the middle of it. I thought that he surely would have died from such a thing, but it was just the opposite. Rand, Katt, and I watched on in horror as his whole head fell apart as if someone had chopped it in two with an axe. Out of the empty space that was left suddenly grew two heads. But these were not human heads. Rather, they were the huge, fur-covered ones of a wolf. Each was pointed a different direction as they emerged, but they eventually both came around to stare straight at us. Both had an intensely hungry look in their pairs of eyes, and their mouths opened up so as to unleash twin roars of unbridled rage.

So that was what Augus truly had been. A two-headed wolf. I thought I had sensed something strange about him, but I had never really been able to put my finger on it. But no matter. What I had to focus on now was ridding the world of this monstrosity.

"Now you see the…power my God has given me…it is truly great," he yelled out. "I can feel…it coursing through me…ah! Such power given to…such an unworthy person…My God, I thank you!…You will not be disappointed!"

Finishing his thanks to his God, Augus turned his attention fully on us. He looked to be quite intimidating, more so than anything I had seen in a long while. He had been quite short before, but now he towered over Katt and I. He appeared to only be armed with the standard wolf weapons: claws and teeth, which were both bad enough. But he appeared to be hiding something else…oh, blast.

For now, Augus whipped out double clubs he had been storing away. They were wooden, true, but still as thick as Rand's arms, which meant they would likely not break easily. Each was about 5 feet long, and that size, coupled with Augus' huge reach, would definitely be a problem. And there was another thing: both had a huge nail sticking out of each of their tops. No doubt he would try to put out our eyes or something horrid like that.

I turned to my partners. "Okay, guys, get ready. Don't let up. We got him out-numbered three to one, so keep the pressure up. Watch out for those clubs, too. One hit from those could likely knock us out. Well, maybe not you, Rand. But, no matter. Let's work together to bring this guy down."

They nodded, then looked up to face the enemy. He had been circling around while we had been talking, evidently waiting. Well, that was nice. At least he played fair.

But once he saw we were finished, he immediately shifted into attack mode. He planted himself firmly in the position that he was in, both hands gripping their respective clubs tightly. His double heads allowed him to watch us from any angle, so any chance of a surprise attack was pretty much nullified. I made up my mind to just go for the heads. They were probably his weak points.

Unfortunately, I made a stupid mistake right off the bat. I charged him, and at the last second brought my sword around at neck level. He saw exactly what I was doing, though, and swung his club up to deflect the sword blow. Not only did it deflect it, but my sword got lodged momentarily in the wood. And, as an additional bonus, he noted that I was now weapon- and defenseless, so he directed his other club up so that it gave me a good hit in the ribcage. The blow stunned me for a second, giving him an easy target, but fortunately he was now distracted by Rand and Katt. While he was busy, I yanked my sword out of the club; but having no energy to use it, I staggered backwards to catch my breath and observe how my partners were doing.

Both were just watching him now, waiting for an opportunity to strike, something I probably should have done. He, too, patiently waited, one head on each of them. But I could tell, even from here, that he was a little nervous about having to deal with Katt's staff. He had seen her fight plenty of times, so he knew just what it could do.

Suddenly, mimicking what she had done to me in our fight, Katt suddenly crouched down and leaped at Augus with incredible agility. Evidently, he hadn't been expecting her to do that, for she caught him full in the face and began scratching the life out of him. She had only been there a few seconds before both his hands reached up, grabbed her, and launched her across the room. She hit the wall with a loud thud and slid down it. But the damage had been done. When Augus looked over towards Rand, I could see that his one of his eyes had been cut and was bleeding profusely.

I decided now was the time to get off my arse and help out my bud Rand. He was now no doubt planning on engaging Augus, so I figured two would be better than one. I got, rubbing my side, which still ached, and walked over to him. "Let's go, Rand. Let's take down this bastard once and for all."

"Righto, Ryu." He stared down at me for a second, then shifted his gaze to Augus, who had utilized the brief free seconds he had to nurse his eye. Looking up, he stared at us, and we saw that while one head's eye still blindingly yellow, the other was now a deep red. It made him look far more menacing. He gave a feral growl and came at us, clubs a-swinging, not even trying to defend himself. Evidently, he had lost his mind once he had been scratched, and all his thoughts for our immediate destruction had been consumed with those focused intently on getting revenge. Such thoughts always cause people to start acting weird.

As soon as Rand and I saw Augus coming at us, we waited until he was close to us, then nimbly stepped to the side. As I did, I brought my sword up and, swiftly and smoothly, chopped one of his arms off. Meanwhile, on the other side, Rand had no sharp weapon to utilize, but he did have his massive fists, so he used those in a quick one-two combo on Augus' head to send him reeling away, bleeding from several areas.

I, for one, was now more concerned about Katt than Augus. She was still on the ground, and as far as I could tell, was not moving a muscle. She was a very small creature, and I hoped that the throw had not broken any of her bones. I wanted to go to her, but I figured it was best to finish off the immediate threat first. Hands still clenching my sword, which was now covered in red, I walked over to where Augus was standing. He was cowering in the corner, whimpering and holding his arm stump. He seemed to be losing his wolf features, and I could tell he was reverting back to his human form.

"All right, Augus," I began. "The gig is up. Your arm's gone, you're nearly blind in one eye, and we have you outnumbered. We have you beaten. I don't wish to kill you, for I believe you still might be of some use to us. Now, why don't you get on up and come out with us? I believe there's a hospital around here somewhere…"

I became aware of my fighting partners gaping at me. "What?" I asked, turning around to face them. "I just want him to answer some questions I have. That's all. It's not as if he's joining our party or anything like that. So just calm yourselves down."

I turned back to Augus. "All right. Are you ready to go…Huh?"

Augus had suddenly gotten himself into an upright position, and had stopped his crying. He looked like he was about to attack, but he didn't. Instead, he began to talk with us, in a more subdued tone than he had been using before.

"Well done, Baba, Katt, and Rand…the three of you have…defeated me, plain and simple…I can accept that…I wouldn't exactly call…three on one a fair fight…but hey, I had two heads, right?…cough

"It is just as well that…I have been beaten. If…I had not been, I would had to have…waited a very long time to…meet with my God. As it is…right now, I will be…seeing him very soon. All…is good.

"But you three must…be warned. My God is coming back…no matter what. He can come back…without your sacrifices. Those would have…just been nice boosts to…my God's return campaign, but he…can do without them. All he…truly needs is the…evil feelings of people. And…those are so abundant…in this world, that he…will have no problem…making his glorious return soon. cough

"His power…will far exceed what it was…last time, when he was in the form…of an ancient serpentine creature….This time, there will be no…eight warriors to stop him…His rise back will be uninhibited and complete…The world shall soon know…the name of our God…and bow before him.

"Beware…all of you. Take pride in…having brought down one…of Deathevan's closest followers. But know…that my God's power far…exceeds my own. And knowing that…should make you very frightened indeed… cough cough

"I am telling you this…as a favor. I cannot aid you…in answering any of your questions…that you might have for me…for I will soon perish. But this…information I have given you…should provide valuable in…the future.

"Now, go, great warriors…go and do what you need to…in the world. Do not worry…about the coliseum or me. When… I die, my wife will…take over, and she will…bring this place back to…glory. She'll find some new…fighters, and the cycle will start…all over again. But this time…I intend that they won't be… killed off if they're doing good…Please be sure to tell…my wife this. That way she… won't repeat my mistakes, and the…business can keep going.

"I…thank you all from the…bottom of my heart for allowing…me to meet with my God. I know…my life has been filled with…evil, and I won't ever…deny that or try to change it…But I can tell you that everything…I have told you is true…You must be very careful of…my God. He makes his spiritual residence…in a very deep area…known as Infinity to us…When the day of his…return comes, he will burst out…and commence destruction on all…the non-believers.

"He feels he will be…invincible once he makes his…grand re-entrance, but there…has been one prophesied who…can bring him to ruin again…………..?"

Here Augus quit his speech and began staring intently at me. I stood where I was, though I felt mighty uncomfortable. I wasn't used to such close inspections. Thankfully, the staring only lasted a few seconds before Augus resumed talking again.

"I, I, I, I…" he stuttered. Evidently staring at me had messed up his mind. "You're, you're, you're HIM!" he shouted, pointing at me with one clawed hand. "How could I have been… so blind? Barubary has told me to keep… on the lookout for you…for 10 years, and yet when… you walk in, I just talk…to you as if you're just a…normal fighter. I'm so stupid!… I should have killed you… on the spot! Now my God might… be in very real danger."

"Hold up a second there, Augus," I interrupted. "Just what the hell are you babbling about? Who am I? Why am I so dangerous to your God? What powers do I possess that make me such a threat? Tell me, please!"

"You're the destined child, of course…Ryu." He gave me a look that made it suggest I was the biggest fool in the world for asking such a question.

I recoiled as if slapped in the face. The destined child? What was that……of course! The great eye had told me 10 years ago that I was the destined child, and something about not being able to defeat some God. Evidently, this guy and the eye were both followers of the same deity. Hmmm. This revelation of his brought back painful memories. But I needed to know more. "Hey, Augus. What else do you know about me and this prophecy?" I asked.

"I was just getting to that…You, Ryu Bateson, are the…product of a once thought to be extinct…dragon clan. You are the only…person currently living above ground…to be able to harness the…immense power of the dragons. This strange…ability had caused my God…great fear in the past…for the leader of the warriors…who defeated him many years ago…was also a descendant of…the dragon line. That man possessed…the ultimate dragon power; the only power…truly capable of defeating my God… It was called Agni…and it was handed down through the…dragon generations until eventually…it became lost. You do…not appear to have discovered the…dragon within you, so for now…my God is safe. But I must…warn him when I go to him…that such a person as you…at least exists, so that he…may take cautions before coming…back here.

Now, my time draws nigh…Go out in the world…discover your true self…become a true dragon, Ryu. Accept… your destiny, embrace it, and… use it as you see fit…even if that means attacking…my God. I believe he can…handle you, no matter how powerful you become…Now, go, all of you…Make great people out of yourselves…I might see later…in the afterlife…Good-bye Katt, Rand, and Ryu… Enjoy your lives…………" And with those words, he lay still, his lifeforce finally extinguished.

I was surprised to find myself near tears. That almost never happened. But in the brief time Augus had been talking to us, I felt for him. He had just been a pawn of a God, and had probably been promised great wealth or some stupid thing like that. But now, he was dead, at mine and my companion's hands. I dreaded having to tell his wife that he was now a dearly departed soul. But it was my duty to, even though Augus hadn't specifically asked me to.

I turned to my companions, attempting to keep my voice normal. "Thank you, both of you, for helping me to bring this guy down. Without you, I would probably be dead. I thank you all."

They nodded. "No problem, Ryu," Rand offered. "It was my pleasure to help you out."

"Yeah," Katt interjected. "You saved my life in the arena, so now I'm just repaying the favor. Consider us even now."

"Thanks." I turned back to face Augus' body. "Now, are we going to leave this guy here or what? Or should we at least take him to the hospital or something so they can arrange his burial or whatnot?"

Rand gave a deep sigh. "Well, I don't want to leave him here, but I also don't want to just drag his dead body out in full view of his wife. After all, she's right outside. Maybe we should just go tell her it happened, and then bring it out. How about that?"

"Sounds good to me," I said. "I'll go tell her, since I feel responsible."

"You do whatever you feel is necessary, Ryu," Katt told me. "We'll wait here."

"All right." I went over to the door, pulled on the handle, and walked out into the sign-up room. Augus' wife was still sitting at her desk, apparently oblivious of what had just happened in the other room. I walked up to her slowly, not wishing to startle her.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said softly. She looked up at me, eyes wide with curiosity. "I have some terrible news for you." She quit working altogether and focused all her attention on me. "I hate to say this, but my companions and I have…killed your husband." Here I paused, expecting her to react hysterically.  
Instead, she took the news stoically. "Well, I expected someone would do him in one of these days. I'm just glad it was such nice people that did it. You didn't torture him or anything messed up like that, did you?"

"Oh, no, ma'am, nothing of the sort. I had come to talk with him about his methods of dealing with fighters he felt to be past their prime. When I arrived, he transformed into a hideous demon. I felt moved to protect myself and my companions from such a beast, so I, along with my partners, um, er, got rid of him. However, he was able to convey many thoughts of his with us, so now I understand why he was the way he was.

"He also wanted me to tell you to keep the coliseum running. And he also said for you not to follow his way and kill people. Instead, just let the top fighter keep going until he is beaten. That way, no more corruption pollutes this fine establishment."

"Hmm. He really said that all that?"

"Yes, ma'am, he did. Quite clearly, too."

"Well, all right, I'll believe you. It's not often that Augus had regrets about his job, though. And when he did, it wasn't to the point that he said 'Stop everything I have ever worked for, and just do what you feel like,' which is basically what you're saying he said. But oh well. I will acquiesce to his requests. That way he can look down from wherever he is and be happy.

"I appreciate you telling me this, good sir Baba. Augus was never the most communicative husband in the world, so I doubt if he would have told me all this had he lived. I thank you." She stood here, and gave a deep bow.

I returned the gesture. "Think nothing of it, ma'am. There is something else, though."

"What?"

"Well, you see, Augus' body is still laying in the other room. It has gone back to its human form, so that's good. I was wondering if you wanted us to take it away, or will you take care of it?"

"Don't trouble yourselves further. I'll have some people come in and clean up. He'll have a proper burial, don't worry. Again, I thank you for your concern for my poor husband." She made another bow, which I also returned.

She sighed deeply. "We have a lot of cleaning up to do here now to get it back to the way it used to be, long ago. But, I feel it can be done." She gave me a smile. "Feel free to come by anytime and see us. I look forward to it."

"Thank you very much, ma'am. I will do my best. Good-bye, and again, I say, I'm sorry for what I did. But you must understand I was forced to."

"Oh, yes, I understand. It's all right. I'll get on just fine, I think. Good-bye, Baba."

"Bye." I motioned for my partners to follow me outside. Once we got into the lobby, we continued going until we were out of the coliseum and in the inn.

Once we got settled in one of the upstairs rooms, I started quizzing them. "Okay, gang," I began. "Well, we've defeated Augus, essentially ending all the corruption that has plagued this arena for years. Now what? I personally still have a job to do: clear my friend's name. As for y'all, you can do whatever you want: go back to your old jobs, come with me and see the world, anything. I'm cool with whatever you choose. But I would like you to choose soon."

They looked at each other, and then towards me. "Welllll, Ryu," Rand said. "I know what I want: I would like to journey with you and see the sights of the wide world. Maybe I, too, can discover myself. I've been here at Coursair, just boozing, ever since I left home five years ago, and I'm getting pretty tired of it. So there you go."

"Okay then. And how about you, Katt?"

She scrunched her face up in thought. "I gotta say, Ryu, I too want to come with you. Fighting here has been great, but that profession only offers so much. Many times, I've wished I could leave it all behind me. And now, I have the opportunity. So, yeah."

I nodded. "It's all well, then. I want to leave this place right now, so let's get going."

"Yeah, sure, Ryu." Rand elevated his huge body up and begin heading downstairs. Katt quickly scrambled after him.

I stayed upstairs for a second, thinking on the journey ahead. I made up in my mind that we would first return to Niro's shack, to see how Bow was doing with the repairs. I could introduce the lot of them, and then everyone would be happy. Maybe (but I hoped not) Rand would asked by Niro to help out with the repairs. I didn't want that to happen, though; I needed all the help I could get on this quest.

But apart from reuniting with Bow, I had nothing to do. The thief hadn't turned out to be Katt, and so that lead was shot. I figured the best thing to do was head back to Hometown. There, things might have calmed down a bit, and I could ask questions without arousing suspicions. Maybe. But who really knew what would happen when I got there? I figured that question was best left unanswered.

My brief thinking spell was snapped when I heard my friend's voices from the downstairs calling me. I yelled to them that I was coming, and then started heading down, ready to get going on our adventure.


	7. Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

"Okay, people, let's get going," I announced as I arrived at the foot of the stairs. "I have a fairly basic plan outlined for exactly where to go, if you want to hear it. Or you could just follow me and not ask any questions; either way, all is good."

Halting their conversation that they were engaged, Rand and Katt looked over at me. "Sure, Ryu," Rand said. "I'll hear what you have to say, and I'm sure Katt will too. I just hope it's something I like."

"Eh, it might be, it might not be. Okay, here it is. We head out from here over to Mt. Fubi, to the southwest. There's a path there that was cleared recently, so the journey from one side to another is fairly easy. On the west side of those mountains is a little shack that belongs to an old man. I saved that old man from death by cockroaches not too long ago, but that's another story. Anyways, my best friend is over there right now, helping that geezer with his house repairs. Last time I was there, it was in terrible disarray, and he needed a lot of help. Well, right now, the old timer's only got my pal, Bow, and no one else, and Ladon knows that boy's a terrible worker. Basically, I want to go check up on him, see how he's doing, and all that good stuff. And from there, I plan to return to Hometown, and ask some people around about the thief I'm searching over. They thought Bow stole this rich dude's treasure, even though he's innocent, but now that a little time has passed, they might believe differently. Tempers might have died down, you see. So yeah. Once I'm there, though, I don't really know where I'll go if I have no leads. I might just chill for a bit. You all are welcome to join me there if I stay. I have a room I'm renting, and it's plenty big enough for three.

"I'm going to say up front, it might turn out to be very dangerous, or it may all just be one long time for goofing-off. If we end up staying in town for a while, I doubt anything exciting will happen. But of course, if I get a plausible lead, we will probably hoof it into the wide world, and I know and you all know that it can be a rough place out there. So, I know you already said you're with me, but I'm giving this time to think your decision over. I'd hate for anything adverse to occur to you guys on account of me, so if you don't want to go, that is just fine with me. I would not blame you if you wanted to stay here, seeing as how Coursair is almost certainly safer than the lands outside, now that Augus is gone. So, for the final time, what do you say?"

They both paused, each looking as if they had something to contribute but holding it back. Rand placed his massive hand on his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. Evidently, he wasn't quite so gung-ho now. Katt stood stock still, in the same position as before, except now her tail was twitching some now and then. Eventually, she broke the silence. "We'll do it with you, Ryu," she volunteered. "I personally have nothing better to do, and as I said earlier, I'm been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time, so I might as well go, danger be damned. And I know Rand still wants to go, right Rand?" She gazed up at him, a steely glint in her eyes.

Rand eyed her warily. He was probably still afraid of what she could do to him. "Uhhhhh, yeah," he said slowly. "I should be able to handle anything nature throws at me, so I'm with you, Ryu. Count me in."

I sighed. "Whew. Great. I thought maybe you guys might chicken out or something after I mentioned the danger, but I guess I'm traveling with hardened veterans. Goodie.

"Well, then. Let me officially welcome you to my party. Rand, welcome to the group. I hope you enjoy yourself. I'm praying we have a heck of a good time together." He bowed his head in thankfulness.

I turned to face Katt. "And you, Ms., are also welcomed into my little tribe. I sincerely hope you have a good time on this trip. It'd be a shame if you don't like it."

"Oh, I think I will. I haven't a vacation in such a long time, thanks to me being champion for such a long time. It'll be good for me to get out and stretch some, right?"

"Right. Oh, hey, Katt, I've been meaning to ask you something since I met you. I've already asked Rand, but he couldn't help, so I figured I could ask you. Okay, here it is. Have you, by any chance, ever seen a woman with blue-blackish hair and a pair of bat-like wings on her back in any of your travels recently?"

Katt put a finger to her mouth and glanced upward, no doubt digging deep into the recesses of her mind for the answer. I waited expectantly for her to say something positive; I did not want to be disappointed again.

"Well, sorry to say, Ryu, I have never seen anyone like that in my life. Whatcha looking for her for?"

"Oh, it's just that she stole something, actually a bunch of somethings, from a rich guy over in Hometown, and she fled the scene before she could be caught. But the bad thing is, my friend was in the house at the same time as her, because he was retrieving something for some other dude. And of course, when the guards came, she had already split, and he was still there. He managed to get away, but they saw his face, and now they think he stole Trout's things. So I had to take him over to Mt. Fubi and dump him off at someone's house (this is the same guy I mentioned earlier). And I promised him I would go off looking for this girl so I could clear his name. That is why I am looking for this person."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I hope you find her soon. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help."

"That's quite alright. She's bound to turn up eventually. A girl like that is easily noticeable. Anyways, welcome, both of you. Now, let us leave this crap town, and go forth to a crap house. Onward!

-------------------

"Whew!" I gasped out. Finally, we had arrived back at Niro's. The trip had taken far longer than usual, for I was not traveling alone anymore. Trips always take longer when more people are tagging along, I've noticed.

When we were first starting out from Coursair, I had politely asked Rand to try to take us by his little rolling technique, and he had said sure. But whenever Katt and I got on, and he started going, he almost immediately threw us off. His speed was incredible, and seeing as how we were unaccustomed to going at such a fast pace, we were unable to hang on. Following that, I decided that it was probably in our best interests to walk over there. And so we did, and after approximately two hours, or about an hour and a half longer that it would have taken had I been alone, we had arrived.

Man, I hated traveling with people. Sure, they provided someone to talk to, but solitude is the way to go, I say. And since that's usually all they're good for, having Katt and Rand tag along was near pointless. All they did was drone on endlessly about how hot it was, how they hated the field monsters, and other such trivial things. But I had to realize the truth. Having them come along now would likely be good for me later. And after all, if all went well, I would be traveling with those two for quite a while. So, it would probably be a good idea to get used to them.

Anyways, as I was saying, we had finally completed our mini-journey and arrived at Niro's shack. As I looked around, I was slightly disappointed to see that the house didn't look too much from last time. Of course, I understood that Bow was alone in working on it, so I didn't really mind too much. It would have been great to arrive back and see it complete and furnished with all new everything, but I realized that was way too unrealistic; after all, I had only been gone a couple of days. Maybe I should really consider leaving Rand here with him; Katt was plenty tough enough by herself, and with me by her side, we would have no problems with any rogues. It would be tough to part with the big fellow, but it might be necessary. But if it wasn't, I would surely take him along with me. I made up my mind to ask Niro if he needed him before I left. But right now, I wanted to just catch up with my pal, and not worry about what might or might not happen.

"Hey, Bow," I called out weakly. "Hey, man, I'm back! Get out here!"

I heard a crash from somewhere inside. "Ryu! Is that you?" Bow's voice called out. "Hey, come on in. I found a few chairs yesterday, so you can take a seat there in the front room. I'm up here on the roof; wait a sec and I'll be right down."

"Okay." I moved forward into the house, motioning for Rand and Katt to follow me inside. They did so, but hesitantly, no doubt concerned about the large piles of debris strewn everywhere.

As we walked around, I took a look around. Well, it didn't look too much different, but, as Bow said, there were now a few seats arranged around the tiny dining table. That was a start, albeit a fairly insignificant one. But, with a house in this bad a state of disrepair, anything that contributes to its improvement is a step in the right direction, I suppose.

A loud noise brought my attention to the back of the house. There, a ladder leaned up against the frail walls, and Bow, Niro above him, was descending it with a toolbox in his hand. Both of them were very sweaty and dirty, and I suddenly felt hesitant about introducing them to my pals. I had wanted them to make a good impression, but I shouldn't have had my hopes so high. But seeing as how I couldn't just get up and leave, I waited for them to come our direction.

"Ryu!" Bow shouted out, a big grin on his face. "Welcome back to our humble abode. Any news on the thief yet?"

He looked so hopeful I hated to have to dash his feelings. I sighed deeply and began, trying to sound as sad as possible. "Unfortunately, Bow, no such luck. This whole time I've been gone, I was after a coliseum fighter who I thought might be able to help, but she couldn't. And speaking of her, I'd like to introduce her to you, as well as this other person here with me. Bow, this girl here is Katt, and the big fellow's Rand. Katt and Rand, meet Bow, my best buddy since childhood."

Bow walked over to both of them and shook their hands, being careful not to stare at Rand any. I was glad to see he at least hadn't become uncivilized while working out here. Once he was through introducing himself, he wandered back over to where Niro was standing.

That reminded me. I couldn't forget to introduce the old timer. "Oh yeah, and that man over there, Katt and Rand, is Niro. He's the owner of this house."

Niro gave a little wave to the both of them, and they returned it. However, he didn't go over to shake their hands, which some might have considered rude, but I it understood perfectly. He was old, after all, and he had just been working hard.

"Okay, well, that just about takes cares of the introductions," I said. "And now, it's time to talk. How's it hanging around here, Bow? Getting a lot of work done?"

I was being slightly sarcastic, but I don't think Bow could tell. He shook his head slowly. "No, man. To tell the truth, we have gotten squat done. It's a lot of work, and two guys probably won't cut it. I have a feeling I'll be here a long time. My apologies to you that I won't be able to assist on your quest. Or have you stopped it?"

"What? Oh, no. It's hasn't been cancelled, but it is on hiatus right now. Like I said, my best hunch led to a dead end, and for now, I'm planning to head to Hometown and rest there for a little while. Most likely, I won't find any clues there, but at least I can get a little shut-eye and not be disturbed. You know what I'm saying, man?"

"Yeah, I hear you Ryu. I haven't had any sleep whatsoever since I got here, and, although that's only been a couple of days, it feels like a month. I mean, wow. It's real tough doing repair work on a house; I've never fixed anything before in my life, big or small: I always gave whatever I had broken to the maid. So now, I'm learning the hard way that I shouldn't have spent so much time on my arse growing up and should have been working a real job. That ranger stuff we did (I guess we're technically still employed) is nothing compared to this. So yeah, in a nutshell, it's tough, and I don't know how much more of it I can stand. Listen," and here he pulled me aside, away from the hearing range of my companions. "That Rand fellow looks plenty buff, and we could really his help. A 70-year old and a guy who's never done manual labor in his life are pathetic at this job. I know he's your companion right now, and you have every right to refuse my request. But I'm going to ask: Would you mind parting with Rand for a few days, weeks, even months (though I doubt it'll take that long) so that he can assist us here at the house? I imagine with him helping, our work output could be tripled, or quadrupled, even. And then, we can get it done real fast (hopefully), and I can go help you find our thief! We'll be the Ryu and Bow team once again! How about it, meister? What do you say?"

I knew it. It had happened just as I had predicted. But that was cool. I had made up in my mind a few minutes before, that if Bow or Niro had requested Rand's services in the reconstruction of the house, I would comply. I had been thinking about it earlier, but I had decided now. I had to do it. For the sake of Bow, and me. I could make it for a little bit with just Katt by my side, especially since I wasn't planning on doing anything dangerous in the future.

I nodded to my friend. "Bow, I would not normally part with my friends like this, but in this case, I will make an exception. If it's all right with him, Rand can work here for as long as you need him. I realize that this house's repair comes before my needs, and I have no problems with that. I'll ask him later on, and if he says yes, then he'll stay here with you and Niro. If not, he'll come with me, I guess, and much as I would hate to do it, I would have to leave you to work by yourself. So, I hope he does say yes; that way, you all can get this place cleaned up in no time. Maybe you can even make a separate house or something for you, me, and my companions. That's just an idea, though. Don't do it if you don't feel like it."

He bowed his head. "Ryu, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you."

"No problem, Bow. Now, how about we go back and join our companions? I think they're getting worried about us."

"Yeah, you're right. It's my fault. But I had to ask you now, or I would have forgotten. You know how I am."

"Indeed I do. But no matter. Let's go."

We wandered back over to where Rand, Katt, and Niro were sitting. They were chatting about something, but whenever we approached, they quit and looked up at us.

"So, what's the deal, boys?" Niro asked us. "Are you going to stay here with us, Ryu, or are you going to keep looking for that thief of yours? And are you going to go off with Ryu, Bow, or stick with me here?"

"Well, actually, sir," I began. "There's something that needs to be done first before I can answer your question. It's a request to Rand."

My friend's ear twitched at the sound of his name. "What is it, Ryu? I have a feeling I know what it will be, but go ahead anyways."

"It's like this, Rand. This house, as you can no doubt see, is in terrible condition. My friend Bow over there, as well as Niro, has been working on it a little while, and no real improvement has come about. Granted, they haven't been working on it a very long time, but whatever. The point is, it's quite a challenge mending anything, let alone a house, with such a small work team, as I'm sure you're well aware of. What I humbly ask you, and I really hate to have to ask at all, is this: Will you be willing to stay here at this house and assist Bow and Niro in mending it? As I explained to you and Katt earlier, it will likely be very boring staying at Hometown, which is what I plan on doing for a bit. So, I'm giving you the opportunity to get to work in here, where your services would be greatly appreciated by all. And once ya'll are finished with the repairs, which shouldn't take an exorbitant amount of time, you and Bow can rejoin me in my quest. What do you say to that offer?"

Rand paused for a few moments, contemplating. No doubt it was a very difficult decision to make. I, as well as Bow and everyone else, waited with bated breath to see what he would end up saying. Much hinged upon his decision.

"All right," he said after a long period of silence. "I'll do it. Just for you, Ryu. But," he added with a half-grin, "you owe me big for this."

"Wow. Thanks a lot, man. I'm sorry if I pressured you, but I had to ask. After all, it's nearing time for me to head home. Don't want to wait until it's too dark to see, you know?"

"I hear you, man. And don't worry about it. I was figuring you were going to ask for my help in some way, shape, or form sooner or later. What with my size and all."

He didn't try to sound it, but I could tell he was slightly disappointed in not being able to accompany me. But, after all, it would in all likelihood be boring, and I didn't want him to get disillusioned with the whole "epic quest" thing by sticking around a horrendously lethargic town with nothing to do. So, in a way, I was doing him a favor (but I didn't feel it wise to express this thought verbally).

I bowed my head in gratefulness. "Again, thanks a lot for understanding, Rand. I hope I won't be gone too long, so that we can continue our quest.

"And now, guys, Katt and I have to be heading out. I'm really sorry that this visit of ours lasted such a brief time, for I have looked forward to it for a while. But I need to go catch some Z's over at Hometown. It's been a pretty hard day for me. So, again, my sincerest apologies to all of you for not being able to stay longer."

They all nodded. "We understand, Ryu," Bow offered. "We know you've been working your arse off these past couple of days trying to locate that stupid thief, and we, well, more like I, appreciate it sincerely. Go take your break. You've earned one, and you sure could use it. And anytime you're ready, you go ahead and continue in your search. Take as long as you need. In fact, it would probably be better to take as long as you can; that way, we can have the house all fixed up when you return. Now, go, good sir."

"I'm going, Bow. I'll try my best to find our thief and bring her to justice. And then, we can do whatever.

"So, later to all of you. Rand, thanks a lot for staying behind. I know it's gonna suck, but I'm sure you can handle it. Enjoy yourself."

He nodded. "I'll try, Ryu. I'll try."

"Good. Well, then, good-bye Niro, Bow, Rand. Have a good work time."

They all waved. I returned the gesture, then turned, and with Katt at my side, headed out the door and onto the plains once more.


	8. Gang Wars

Gang Wars

As I stepped up to the gate leading into Hometown, Katt at my rear, I felt a great sense of calm sweep over my body. I was finally going to get a good, long rest, something I hadn't had in a while. It was going to be great.

I walked directly up to the gate, grabbed the bars, and begin to shake them, causing the chain to make a loud noise. "Hey, Herb!" I shouted. "Wake up, will you? You have people here who need in!"

"Wha…? Oh, hey, whadda ya know? It's Ryu, back from wherever you went. Good to see you again, sir. Oh, you're not alone. But," he squinted in the near-darkness. "It's someone I don't know. But that doesn't really matter. Hi, miss."

Katt gave him a tentative wave, which he returned before turning back to me. "So what's up with you, Ryu?" he asked as he unlocked the gate and yanked it open. "You find that thief yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. I thought I had a good lead going, but it turned out to be bogus. You know it goes sometimes."

"Yeah, I do. Well, I'm sorry to hear about that, Ryu. I hope, and I know many others do, that you are able to track that woman down and let Bow back in. God, I miss that kid." He stepped out of mine and Katt's way to allow us entrance to the town. "Well, good luck, Ryu. Hope you find her soon."

"Thank you very much, Herb. I appreciate it a lot." I patted him on the shoulder as I passed by.

I directed Katt to follow me, and I led the way into my house. I opened the door as silently as I could, knowing my landlady was likely still asleep, and would raise hell with me if I woke her up. We crept along to the upstairs room, ending up in my bedroom, where my bed beckoned to me like a long-lost friend.

Fist thing I did was sit down and took off my shoes. The darned things had been killing my feet for a while now, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to remove them.

"Well," I said to Katt. "Uh, I have a sleeping bag over in the closet. So, let me get that out." She nodded, and I stood up, walked over to the closet door, pulled it open, and searched around for that shiny blue sleeping bag of mine. I hadn't used it for years, so maybe the maid had thrown it out or something. That would be bad…

Ah, there it was, tucked away in the upper-righthand corner. I reached back and grabbed a chair, so as to be able to make a grab for it. Steadying the chair, which had a broken leg, I climbed on and made a grab for the bag. It came tumbling down, along with half the contents of my closet. Darn, I hated it when that happened. You try to get one thing, you end up with a hundred. Oh, well. It wouldn't be so hard to put all the stuff back up.

"Hey, Katt, you mind helping me out with this stuff…Katt?"

Where the devil had she gone? Oh…so that's how it was gonna be, huh?

That little sneak had decided to steal my bed while I was busy putting my life at risk in order to get her a sleeping bag. _Nice way to repay me, Katt_, I though. _I'll remember that. Next time this type of situation arises, don't expect me to get up and try to help. Hmmph._

Well, I guessed the only thing to do now was put up the garbage I had brought down, so that I could clear a way for the sleeping bag. Still seething with anger at Katt, I begin my task.

Thankfully, it didn't take very long. But then again, I didn't even try to have any semblance of order at all; I just picked up stuff and threw it in. I had been taught never to do that, but this was a special situation; if Ganer had been here, he would have done the same thing.

When I was finished, I bent down and picked up the huge blob that was my sleeping bag. I had forgotten how much I hated these things, what with their bad smell and overbearing bulkiness. I didn't really feel like sleeping anymore, but I decided to roll it out on the floor and try to get some rest in. Most anything beat sleeping on a very hard floor, and a sleeping bag was one of those things.

So I set it out, let it roll itself out to its full position, and climbed in it. Nice and warm, it was. Perfect for getting to sleep in…

-----------------------

"Ryu! Ryu! Wake up!"

"Huhhh?" I asked. Who was shaking me? Oh, it was Katt. Of course. Who else would it have been?

"What is it, Katt? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"

"Yeah, I can. But it's 1:00 now, and sleeptime's been over for a while. I've been up since 8, doing several important things."

"Oh, really?" I straightened up from my position on the floor, groaning as I did so. The floor was a lot harder on my back than it was on my feet, and the stupid sleeping bag hadn't given me any cushion whasoever. "Like what?"

"Like getting food. Take a gander over there if you don't believe me."

I threw the piece of sleeping bag that was covering me off, and looked around to where she was pointing. Suddenly, my eyes opened really wide. I had not been expecting the sight which greeted my eyes.

There, leaned up against the wall, in all their dead glory, were three animals: a deer and two hogs. Wow, and here I had thought she meant some store-bought crap. I was truly shocked at seeing them.

Okay, to understand my surprise, first you have to know something. In Hometown, which up until about a week ago had been my only world, there existed only one hunter out of the dozens of residents there, a person who could actually go out and bring down deer, pigs, bird, bears, anything that was eatable. Meaning, of course, that the skill was incredibly rare; we had our fair share of accountants, bankers, merchants, all the "normal" jobs. The one hunter is Bow, and it was mainly due to his crossbow that he was such a good hunter; long-range helps out a lot when trying to surprise animals, you know. But now that he had gone away for a bit, I had never expected to meet another person who actually was able to hunt, much less a person with a staff as her only weapon. That meant she had to get up to about two feet of the animal to kill it; that also meant she was darn good at sneaking up and making no noise whatsoever. I was very impressed, to say the least. My idea about Bow being the only hunter in the world was shattered now. But that was okay. It was always good to learn new things, right?

I stared at the carcasses for a few seconds before making any sound, and when I did try to say something, it came out as a kind of squeak. Katt looked over at me quizzically, and I quickly tried to regain my composure.

"Uh, uh, uh, wow. That's…great, Katt. Er, how long have you been a hunter?"

She scrunched her face up, apparently trying really hard to remember. It took a few seconds before she gave her answer. "I guess, really, since I was born. My whole tribe basically consists of hunters, so everyone born into it is expected to be one. Of course, that's not the only thing we do; we have other professions. But hunting is the main one. And I've been taught all its nuances and secrets since as far back as I can remember. Why? Is it surprising to see a woman be a hunter?"

Uh-oh. I had to be careful in my response here in order not to get smacked. She might just have been a feminist; they were bad to deal with. "Oh, of course not, Katt. It's just that, well, I've only seen one hunter in my whole life. And, uh, well, I just figured they were kind of a rarity in the world."

She smiled. "They are. My tribe is the only Woren one in the known world, and thus, we are the only tribe of pure hunters in the world; but I do believe my mother once told me about our history, and how there were some full-bred tigers, that were still capable of walking upright and talking, that also hunted elsewhere in the world. But, that's probably just a myth. Anyways, last time I was there, there were only about 20 of my kinsfolk at the campsite where we all lived. And that was about two years, so by now, more of them might have been killed off, like so many have been." She sighed deeply, then continued, in a much different tone, now one of anger and hatred rather than calmness, and with a much different look upon her face. "Damn, that really burns me up. My people had done nothing to those slavers, and yet they came and slaughtered as many of us as they possibly could. They caught us totally by surprise too, at midnight, when all was still and everyone was asleep. Arrrgggggghhhhh. Damn those people! What cowards! I wish they would all die! I wish I could kill them!" She cut off her tirade here, breathing heavily with a crazed look in her eyes.

I kept my mouth shut, deciding it probably wouldn't be wise to talk to her right then. The last time I had seen her like that, she had given me the beating of my life. After a minute or so of heaving, she forced herself to stop. Now was the time to give her condolence. "I'm truly sorry, Katt. I've never had anyone close to me killed, but I have had near and dear ones taken away from me, and I couldn't do anything about it. So, even though it's kind of a sorry thing to say in this situation, I do understand how you feel. And again, I am deeply sorry."

There was silence for a few moments as she stared at me. Evidently, she hadn't thought of me as the sensitive type; most people don't when they first meet me. I stood in suspense, waiting to see if she would stay calm and collected, burst into tears, or whatnot. I was relieved (and slightly surprised) when she threw her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulders. I felt a mite awkward there, but I decided it was best to at least give her a hug back, so I did.

"Oh, Ryu," she said through her tears. "I'm sorry for doing this to you…it's just that I've never met anyone else like you. Everyone else I've ever talked to has been…I don't know. Uncaring, cruel, nonchalant about the whole thing. They don't give a damn about me or any of the other Worens. Or anybody, for that matter, except their own stupid selves.

"But you, Ryu, you're different. You care about what I have to say And I thank you for that."

Once again I was slightly embarrassed. I wasn't used to being talked to this way, as if I were some great person and what not. But I had to admit, it felt pretty good.

"Uhhh, you're welcome, Katt. Now, uh, let's get going. You said you wanted to go out and see the town, right?"

She drew away from me, sniffled, and looked down. "Yeah, I did. Sorry about that, Ryu. It's just that mentioning those traders always either gets me sad or mad."

I smiled at her. "Hey, no problem. It's nothing to be ashamed about. Those guys did an awful thing, and such a thing as they did certainly deserves to have emotion drawn from it.

"So, just forget it. I won't mention it, and I'm sure you won't. Just, from now on, try to keep those guy's action out of your thoughts, and all should be good. Now let's let it be, and get going. I have a feeling once you get outside, everything will be much better."

She sighed deeply. "You're probably right, Ryu. Let's go." With those final words, she walked out of the room.

As we made our way outside, I took the time to revel in the afternoon air. It felt great not to have to worry about chasing down winged thieves, or about getting my head chopped off by a giant woodsman, or getting my butt handed back to me by a cat girl. I was ready to do anything, as long as it was safe. Unfortunately, as per usual, that turned out not to be the case.

Just seconds after we stepped out my front door, Katt was off like a flash to the stores. I figured, with their meager selection, she would be back just as quickly, but after standing around for about a minute and seeing no sign of her, I decided to wander around. I was pretty easy to recognize, so if she came looking for me before I did for her, she would have no problem locating me.

I had only gone roughly five steps, though, before I heard a commotion somewhere. Looking around, I determined that something was going on over at the School of Magic; there looked to be three or four punks hanging around outside, but for what reason, I could only guess. They appeared to be part of a gang or something, for they all wore the exact same outfit: red bandanas tied loosely around their head and covering up most of their faces, green shirts with some guy's face emblazoned on it, blue jeans, and some scuffed up leather shoes. They looked to have about all the magical aptitude of rocks. One of them seemed to be rubbing his chest; one of the students from the school must have cast a spell on him. I walked over so I could get a better view.

"What the hell was that for, Nina?" I heard the guy rubbing his chest ask the beautiful, black-winged, blonde girl in front of him. From where I was standing, she looked pretty angry. "That hurt, and I did absolutely nothing to deserve it. All I wanted to know was if you were interested in accompanying us to our boss' place. That's it; nothing dangerous or anything. Just a simple request, that's all. And you had to go and get all crazy on us. We don't want to cause any problems, you know. Just come with us and after that, we'll leave you alone forever. How does that sound?"

He approached her, as did his two cronies. I could tell right away that that was a bad move; the girl had not stopped looking like a mad woman, and now her eyes began flashing dangerously. When they got within about two feet of her, she raised her hands and sent three lightning bolts straight down from the clear blue sky so that it singed the ground only inches away from each of them. Hurriedly, they backed away, each bearing a frightened look. Evidently, their tough guy image was a mere façade. I've dealt with people like that before; all you have to do is flash a weapon or something like that and they'll melt away.

Their leader (I suppose he was) looked hard at Nina for a second before saying, probably to himself, but I managed to catch it, "You've got strong magic, indeed. The boss wasn't wrong when he said to come here for recruits. But he is the boss, after all; whatever he says is right, and I was wrong for doubting him in the first place." Speaking louder, he said to Nina, me, and the little crowd that had by now gathered around us, "Well, that's it. This little girl has showed me she has some pretty amazing talent. Our boss will be most pleased when I alert him of her, but he won't be happy when he sees that I only returned with these two bums. I will take my leave now, but I might be back later.

"You should watch yourself, Nina. The boss doesn't like being denied. I have no doubt you'll be seeing more of us very soon if you keep up this resistive behavior. Well, farewell, all!" He turned, and making a hand signal that was evidently some code for their gang, left with his pair of buddies, both of whom still looked like a couple of kids who just had their first nightmare.

As soon as he left, the crowd began to murmur amongst itself, and the people began to push forward so as to ask Nina some questions; probably why she was being approached by such people in the first place. As soon as she saw this, however, she immediately backed up into the school and shut the door. Once she did this, the crowd began to fall back, still talking about the events that had just transpired.

I myself was thoroughly intrigued. Magic was something that was fairly new to me, but I had always been interested in it. Bow had shown some rudimentary signs of it since we were kids, but it was just defensive and curing magic. This was the first time, outside of the time Ganer saved me from the Beak 10 years ago, that I had seen offensive magic. I had always wished for some of my own, for physical prowess can only get you so far, but unfortunately, I had been continuously flummoxed in that department. Ah well. At least I finally got to see some. That would satisfy me for now.

I felt a tapping on my shoulder, and turning around, saw that it was Katt, with nothing in her arms, as I expected. "Didn't get anything?" I asked.

"Nope. The shopping selection here is terrible. Besides, I didn't have any money anyways. I was really just going to look. And that only took about two minutes. And that figure is for the ALL the stores combined." She sighed. "They really suck, Ryu. How can you stand to live here?"

"Well, you know, I don't really shop too much around here. My apartment was already outfitted with most everything I needed for survival when I began renting it, and food I get from Bow's hunting expeditions. Weapons, armor, and fishing stuff are really the only things I shop for around here. Or at least, used to; my current armor and weapon are far better than anything sold her, and I haven't been fishing in a while. And as for clothes…I make them myself.

"Really? Interesting…"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I've never met a guy who makes clothes before. Rather interesting occupation, don't you think?"

"It's not my job; merely a way to save money and pass time."

"Ah. Okay. What is your job, then?"

"Well, the official title is 'Ranger', but we don't go into forests and talk to the animals or none of that stuff. Basically, we just protect the people of Hometown from whatever may threaten them, whether that means monsters, animals, people, demons, anything. We don't get much appreciation either, mainly because there hasn't been too much need for us recently. I mean, the last thing we did was rescue a pet pig. Can you beat that?"

"That is pretty sad, indeed. Your team must be hard-pressed for cash."

"I think so too. Of course, only the senior members get to discuss the financial situation; us newbies, like Bow and I, just do the work, get our paycheck, and go home, no questions asked. But it's good that way. I like it nice and simple."

"I don't blame you. I'm the same way: try to avoid as much responsibility as possible, right?"

"That's right."

"So whatcha been up to these past few minutes I was gone? Probably nothing much, huh?"

"Actually, something interesting happened. Some gang punks were harassing this Magic School girl, and she almost turned them into barbeque. They high-tailed it after that, but their leader mentioned something about his boss and coming back to get her and all sorts of garbage."

"Magic? Did you say magic?"

Her eyes were now lit up like there was a Christmas tree inside her head. Evidently, she too was intrigued by the allure of magic.

"Yes, I did. As a matter of fact, I was just about to head inside here and ask around a little about it. Care to accompany me?"

"Of course! I've always wanted to learn about magic! It's been a lifelong dream of mine! Though I probably can't be taught any; my tribe used to have magical powers, but after they discovered it was not suitable for hunting (it totally charbroiled the animals), they decided to quit using it and focus solely on boosting physical strength.

"But anyways," she continued. "Let's get a move on! We can talk more about my history, and yours, later. Right now, magic is calling for me. Come on!"

"All right, all right. I'm coming."

And so we went up and through the double doors of the school, which Nina had thankfully not locked, but merely shut.

The inside was pretty…boring looking. It was just like any normal school, and since I had gotten away from school as fast as I could, I was not very intrigued by it. It looked small, too; there were only two rooms on the bottom floor, and class was being held in one. The other looked to be a little library. I sighed. The exterior of it had led me to believe it was huge inside. But it had let me down as soon as I stepped inside.

As I had expected, Katt decided to once again desert me as soon as I stepped in, so I wandered over to the library to see if they had anything cool to check out, like maybe how to cast spells. That would be handy to learn how to do.

But sadly, there was nothing of the sort. All it was was stuff like "History of Magic", "Uses of Magic", "Magic at Home", "How to Use Magic Safely" and other useless things. Not one single book on "How to cast Magic" or "Easy-to-Learn Offensive Magic" or anything like that. Guess they figured it would be too dangerous to have those kinds of books around, even in a magic school. I shrugged and looked around. There was one girl in there that looked like she might be a librarian, and thus be of some use, but I decided to avoid talking to her. She looked pretty creepy, plus she was muttering something to herself. I've learned over the course of my life to keep away from people that did that. After spending a few more minutes looking around, in the hope that I might have missed something the first time through, I left and went upstairs.

It was more of the same boring, routine-to-be-found-in-a-school stuff up there. Just another class in session, a bathroom, and what looked to be a fairly empty classroom. I walked over to the seemingly deserted one and poked my head. There were two people standing in it: Nina, and an old man who looked like he might be principal or something. They were conferring together about something; no doubt Nina was talking about her little run-in with the punks a few minutes prior. I decided that the dude she was talking to would probably be the right one to ask about magic, so I crept in silently and took a seat at one of the tables, waiting my turn.

However, as soon as I entered, they stopped their discussion and turned to look over at me. Nina just stared, while the old man made a pass at conversation. "What are you doing here, laddie?" he asked. "Get lost?"

"No, sir. I was, uh, just going to ask you about magic and if there was any chance about learning it from here. I'm quite interested in it, you see."

He laughed, a slow, rumbling laugh that seemed to last a long time. "Sorry, lad. You won't have much luck getting in here. This is a girl's school, you see."

"Oh." I felt my face turn slightly red. "I'm sorry, then. I'll leave you."

As I was preparing to leave, I heard Nina call out in a faint voice "Wait."

I turned and looked over in her direction. "Yes, miss?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, then started, very softly. "I believe you were out there while that gang of men were harassing me, correct?"

"Yes, I was."

"Well, I have a request for you, and I'm only asking you because you look capable of performing the task."

"Fire away."

"Well, as you saw, those men are getting quite bothersome. They've been on me for weeks now, and I'm getting tired of just pretending to hurt them to make them leave. I fear they will soon also grow tired of me and try to harm me. So thusly, I want to eliminate them, but I am not nearly powerful enough. Here's my request: Would you be willing to go into the heart of the Joker (that's that gang's name) hideout and either confront their boss about the matter, or just perform mass execution on all of them. Either way is good with me."

I was slightly stunned. A girl like that, talking about killing in such heartless ways? That's not something you see everyday. "Well, miss, before I answer, I'll have to confer with my partner. I don't know exactly where she went, but…"

"Confer with me about what?" I heard Katt ask. I wheeled around to face her, just about to ask where she had gone, before she answered my unsaid question. "I was in the bathroom, just so you know. My apologies for not telling you beforehand. I really had to go. Now, what is it you need to 'confer with me about'?"

"Well, you see, that girl up there wants my (I guess our) help with getting rid of that gang of hoodlums I told you about. She says we need to go infiltrate their hideout and either talk with their leader or kill them all. That's what I needed to confer with you about. I wanted to see if you were up to the challenge."

"Duh. Of course I am. You can always count on me to go head-first into dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations." She elbowed me out of the way and marched up to Nina. "We'll take your request. But I have a question for you."

Nina looked somewhat surprised. "What is it?"

"Well, I've been wanting to learn magic for the longest time. And, before I go any further, let me say this: You do not at all need to give me this or anything else for what Ryu and I are about to do for you. It's merely a request. And here it is. I ask that, once we return from the hideout, you teach me, and possibly Ryu here if he wants it, the ways of magic. I'm even willing to pay for it. What do you say to that, ma'am?"

"Hmmmmmmmm." Evidently, that was not a question Nina received very often. She continued to hum for about a minute before giving Katt an answer. "Well, actually, magic is not a taught ability; it is intrinsic. Either you have it or you don't. But," she added quickly, seeing Katt's expression start to fall, "you do seem to exude some strong magic from your body, but it seems it has not been able to channel itself out of your body yet. Your skills are probably underdeveloped, that's all. I will attempt to help you once you come back; I'm an advanced student, so I should be able to help at least somewhat. And if I cannot assist, then I'm sure Yoji here will be happy to help."

"Oh. Well, thank you very much, miss. We're heading out right now, so stay here and we'll be back! And thanks…hey! Watch it, buddy!"

I quickly looked around Katt's body to see who she was talking to. Oh great; it was another hoodlum; one of the same, I judged from the singes on his body, that Nina had nearly killed just a few minutes earlier. He grinned maliciously. "Pardon me, ma'am," he said with the utmost sarcasm. "I just need to talk to Nina up there. If you would let me through, please?"

Keeping a wary eye on him, Katt stepped out of his way, and I did the same. Making a mock bow to each of us in turn, he walked over to Nina until he was about three yards away. I smiled behind him; he was being very careful not to be almost-zapped again.

"Well, Nina, I got bad news for you, sweetheart," he said in a falsely sad voice. "And don't blame it on me, please; I've been trying to get you to come with us the whole time, but you just wouldn't listen. Nooooo, you were too good for us and the boss, but now, you'll find out just how wrong you were to deny us…"

Nina was growing quite impatient with him. "Get on with it already, you stupid man! What is it you've done? What do you want?"

"Well, Nina, we've been wanting you, for a while now, but since you've resisted for so long, we've moved on to others. Specifically…" here he paused for a few seconds; evidently he hoped what he was about to say would make an impact. "Your sister Mina."

Nina recoiled like she had been slapped in the face, but quickly recovered. "You bastard!" she shouted, her voice full of fury. "What have you done with Mina? Tell me, now, or I will have no problems killing you this time!"

I was slightly stunned as well, but not nearly so much as Nina. Mina had been Bow's love interest for a while, after all, and she had come by the outpost regularly to see us. Thus, I knew her, but not too well. But she had been a very nice girl, and I never wished for bad things to happen to good people.

The punk looked somewhat scared now. He was just now figuring out he had been stupid for coming into a room by himself to deal an ultimatum to a full-grown magician. Even I could have told him that.

"I told y-you, don't b-blame me. I'm just a m-m-messenger. It's all the b-boss' doing. He thought up the whole thing, r-r-right from the start. He wouldn't even tell me, his own n-n-nephew, what he was up to. So therefore, I can't be b-blamed. Please don't k-k-kill me. I beg you!"

Dang, he was pathetic. I suppose all hoods are, really, when they're all alone and without their buddies. They're nothing on their own; if they're by themselves and unarmed, as this guy apparently was, they were at your mercy. This guy was practically on his hands and knees begging for his life to a teenage girl. Pretty sad, really.

Nina was still staring at him with an incensed expression on her face. Evidently, his little speech hadn't plucked her heartstrings much. She raised her left hand high in the air, and I could see a ball of red energy began to form in it. I was surprised. She really was going to kill him, apparently.

"Now tell me, whatever your name is, exactly where my sister is and how I'm going to go about getting there. If you don't begin talking in two seconds after I'm finished, I will unleash a firestorm on you. So, hurry up, or you will find yourself burning in agony."

He stared for about a half-second at the growing ball in her hand, then quickly began talking. "She's in our hideout, okay! Deep in the lair of the Joker gang! Is that good enough for you?"

"No. It's not. I want to know how to get there, step-by-step, from here. I suggest you tell me that if you want to live."

"I, I, I can't. At least," he added hurriedly, "not in front of all those people. We're to be killed if we reveal the location to anyone. I'll make an exception for you, and I'm sure the boss will too once I explain who you are, but not for these people. If I say it aloud, right now, they'll come try to rescue you. I just know it. That blue-haired guy looks the hero type.

"So I have a proposal for you. I will take you there myself. If you don't want to, then you can kill me, and never get there in time to save your sister. Ladon knows what the boss is planning to do with her. He's pretty crazy. So, I suggest unless you want terrible things to happen to Mina, you accompany me over there."

This was a dangerous thing for him to do. He was risking his life by doing it, and silently I applauded him for that. He wasn't going to back down now, not even when Nina might just set him ablaze.

She allowed the energy ball she was holding up to continue to burn for a few seconds longer, and then she let her hand down, slowly, unwillingly, and the energy dissipated as she did so. But she had no choice; she was being forced into this, pretty much. "All right, then, punk. I will come with you to your little hideout. If your boss has done anything to Mina by the time I arrive, or when I'm there, I will personally kill him and every last member of your gang. And believe me, I will know whether he has or not.

"Now, let's go. I wish to get there as quickly as possible."

"Oh, ok. Well, then, we shall go, Nina. Later, y'all." He seemed remarkably different now that he knew he couldn't be touched. Taking Nina by the arm, he led them out of the room, and we could hear them clamping down the stairs and out the front door.

I was personally very frightened for Nina and Mina, and it's rare that I'm like that. They were going to be in a highly dangerous situation, surrounded by dozens of gang members. Nina was powerful, that was true, but even her magic would likely falter against such a large group. I felt it was my duty to go and try to protect her and her sister before anything serious happened. I looked over at Katt to confirm this, but before I could say anything, she was already jabbering away a mile a minute.

"What the hell was she thinking, going with him? He looked crazy! And I'm sure his boss is no better; probably worse! You can tell they're scum, the way that guy was acting. Who knows what those guys might do to them? Ryu, we can't let go by herself. She'll get killed, and Ladon knows what else! Come on, we have to go. She's depending on us!"

I gave a questioning look. "How on earth do you know that? She didn't say one word to us when she was leaving. She didn't even look at us." I was stalling, of course. I had already made up my mind to go.

"I just know, okay? And besides, would you really feel right, leaving a poor innocent girl like that to those dogs?"

"Innocent, huh? Innocent enough to almost zap three guys at once? Innocent enough to have enough magical ability to wipe out a town? That kind of innocent?"

"Oh, Ryu, quit it. I know you want to go, too, so let's get going. We've wasted a lot of time here thanks to you. We don't even know where this place is; we've got to go find it. And that could take a while. So, come on!"

Katt, who by now seemed rather crazed about this whole thing, then proceeded to unceremoniously yank me away from where I was standing by my collar, leaving the man called Yoji in stunned silence. I felt bad for the guy. All that was supposed to happen was have me ask him a question, and now look what had just occurred. I was surprised he had taken it so stoically.

But back to my situation. As soon as Katt had taken a hold of me, I had considered telling her to get a grip and calm down, but one look at her face now caused me to erase that notion from my mind. I just decided to be resigned to my fate, at least for now. I had sort of wanted to go exploring, but not so soon. I had only gotten one night of rest, and already I was back on the road. ONE NIGHT! It was times like this when I questioned, Why did I always have to be the one to save people? That punk had been right; I did look the hero type, and even more unfortunately, I was the hero type. I had learned to be like that ever since I was kid and I faced off with that huge demon so I could try my best to save Bow, and ever since then, I had been the hero. But, no matter how good the reward is (and usually, they're pretty good), being a hero will always be a terrible job; don't ever get roped up into it. I guarantee you you'll regret it forever.

So, out we went, downstairs, out the exit of the Magic School, past a snoozing Herb (I really needed to talk with that guy about his work habits), and out into the world once again. I sighed deeply. There was no way around it, I supposed. The world always needed saving, and someone to save it; and as luck would have it, that someone turned out to be me. What a lucky person I was.

----------------------

As we arrived at the entrance to the Joker's hideout, I looked wearily over at Katt. Things had gotten off to a bad start when we tried to find the cave. We had gotten to Coursair without any trouble, but unfortunately, neither of us knew where to go from there. We asked all the townspeople, and I tried to get my buddy Jack to help me out. But it was all to no avail. Coursair was a good town, now that Augus had been disposed of, and it tried its best to avoid any connections with gangs. I couldn't blame them; I didn't want any connections myself.

We had decided to spend the night there, and when we got up the next morning, we were out. Katt argued that we should head north and to the far west. I proposed we go south and to the west. Ultimately, it was decided she was the better arguer of us, so we tried going northwest.

And of course, that turned out to be the wrong way. Tag Woods was up there, of course, but we didn't even cast it a second glance and marched on by it. But beyond the woods was where the real trouble lay.

There was a little path to the west of the woods that we walked down, and while on it, we encountered a very, very bad enemy. It looked to be an evolved form of the Birubiru, the species of purplish, horned demon-pigs that terrorized the area immediately to the east of Hometown. The creature Katt and I encountered, however, was bright orange rather than violet, and it was quite a bit more fierce than I remembered the Birubirus being. As soon as it caught sight of us, it gave a deep-throated squeal and began to charge us. And let me tell you, those pigs might not look it, but they are some speedy little devils.

Well, as soon as he begin his charge towards us, Katt and I jumped away from each other, so as to offer him two targets instead of one. She had already whipped out her staff, but my sword had picked that moment to become stuck in its sheath, so I was trying desperately to draw it out before the pig made it to where I was standing.

I ended up getting it out just as the pig arrived at my location, and so, of course, I got knocked up into the air a good ways. But, thankfully, when I landed, I was not seriously bruised. I grabbed my sword from where it lay and began to stalk the pig, who by now was trying desperately to get a bite in on Katt. She was doing a good job of keeping it at bay with her staff, I gave her that, but she wasn't doing any damage either, and soon, she would get tired. I had to go help her out.

I tried to be as quiet as I could, but unfortunately, the pig still heard me coming. It turned its back on Katt and faced me, a hungry expression in its tiny eyes. I lifted my sword above my head, daring it to come at me again.

And it did. I was surprised, but not so much as to be caught off guard again. I didn't wish for a long, drawn out battle that would only serve to weaken Katt and I, so I chose the quick and bloody method. When the creature was within about ten feet of me, I brought my sword dead center above my head, and threw it with all my might.

Thankfully, I didn't miss. My aim was true, and as the sword impaled the creature's skull and came out through the other side, a fountain of blood came gushing forth. I could see that Katt was quite disgusted by the sight of it; she had probably been wishing to end it her way: slowly, drawn out, almost torturing. That staff of hers was great at killing deers and little regular pigs, but it wasn't much good for penetrating the hides of demonic animals such as this one. It would have taken forever if she had tried to do it in.

I walked over to where the pig lay, unmoving. Perfect; I had killed it through and through. One of the worst scares you will ever get is when you think you've killed an animal, and you go to inspect it, and all of a sudden it jumps up and tries to maul you.

Placing one foot on the creature's head, I reached down, and with a titanic effort, pulled my sword free of its face. Eck. It was quite a bloody mess, and so I wiped it on the grass to clean it up. Katt had turned away by now; odd that she couldn't stand the sight of blood, and yet she was a hunter. When I had finished, I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay now, Katt. I'm through. Let's head on back to Coursair now and try going a different route. Something tells me if we continue along this particular path much more, we won't be any help to Nina, Mina, Bow, or anyone else. So let's go. Please." She nodded slightly, and we went off, the atmosphere noticeably grimmer than before.

Of course, since that path was now X'ed out, the only way to go was the way I had suggested earlier. So, once we made it to Coursair, we stopped for a breather in the pub, and then went on our way once again. As I suspected, my way was the right one, and we arrived at the cave shortly after we began walking southwest, and that's where we were at the present time.

"All right, Katt. You ready to go on in? Cause I sure am. All this walking around and stuff has kind of tuckered me out. I'm ready to grab those two girls and get on home."

She nodded complacently. "All right, Ryu. You're right. Let's head on in here." She started in, and after a pause, I followed after.

The atmosphere in the cave was completely different than it was on the fields outside. Outside, it had been unbearably hot and humid; there had been no wind whatsoever, just the sun, constantly beating down on us. Inside, it was about 40 degrees cooler, with plenty of wind coming through the entrance hole. There was also that sense of dampness in the air, which seems to be common to all caves. All in all, it was quite a bit nicer inside than out.

Unfortunately, there was trouble almost as soon as we stepped in. At the first bend, we could make out one of the hoods standing and keeping watch. Likely, Katt and I could overpower him with no trouble, but I liked to avoid confrontations if I could help it.

We walked right up to him, and seeing his eyes narrow dangerously and his hand creep towards his knife, I nodded at Katt to be ready for battle. But, I would try to talk him out of it first.

"Hello, good sir. I was wondering if there was any chance you might be able to let us in. We, uh, need to see the boss about something. It's urgent that we talk to him, so if you would please let us on through?"

He laughed; it was a hood's laugh, all right, full of supreme confidence and arrogance. "Yeah, right, freak. You really think I'm going to let you and Miss Tiger over there through? You got another thing coming if you do." As he was talking, he drew his knife out, and held in front of himself menacingly. "Now you got about five second to get your asses outside, or I will have your guts for garters. Comprende?"

"Oh, sure, man, whatever you say." I turned to Katt. "Take care of him, will you? But be sure not to kill him, all right? There only needs to be one kill today, and that's going to be this dude's boss, and that's only if he doesn't cooperate with us." She nodded, drew her staff out reverently from behind her, and with one swift motion, knocked the guy senseless.

"Thank you kindly, Katt. I do appreciate it."

"My pleasure, Ryu. Now let's get on in and rescue Nina and Mina."

"Right." I paused over the hood's body to drop a handkerchief on his chest. "You'll need it, sir, when you wake up," I said to his prone form. "Got a lot of blood on you, you do." Once I was through talking with him, I stepped over him, and along with Katt, continued my way through the cave.

We passed on through easily enough after that, except for two parts, which occurred almost simultaneously. A little ways after disposing of the first hood, we encountered another, who stood guarding a gate and actually looked out of place there. His eyes were full of fear, and when Katt and I approached him, I saw him nearly jump into the air with fright.

"W-who are you people?" he called out in a quavering voice. "You're not part of the gang. G-get lost! Don't make me use this on you." And, as with the hood we encountered earlier, he drew his knife, but he did not do so nearly as easily. He nearly sliced his own hand off in the process of taking it out. He had to be a rookie; veterans just don't act that way.

I turned to Katt. "Let me handle this, okay? I don't want a fight with this one." She nodded. I walked over to where the hood stood shaking. "Hey, dude. I have a favor to ask," I said to him. "You see, me and this lady here have absolutely got to go in. Your boss is holding two of our friends captive, and we decided we would come rescue them. Now, I suggest if you don't want to be put in a coma, as your friend guarding the entrance was, then open the gate up."

He opened and closed his mouth rapidly. Clearly, he was not one used to threats. "OKAY!" he burst out. "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me. Just let me ask you a question first. It's standard policy. If you can answer correctly, you know the boss well, and I'll let you pass. But if not, I cannot give you access. Boss' orders. Sorry.

I sighed. "All right, buddy. What is it?"

"Uh, uh, I forgot…oh yeah! What…is the name of the boss' nephew, the one guy he absolutely trusts?

"Ehhhh…" What was it? I had just forgotten. That had been the same guy who took Nina away, but unfortunately, he had neglected to tell us his name. But I had been conversing with a couple of the more friendly guys in the cave, and they let me in on practically their entire family tree. It was a source of immense pride to them that they were related to the boss. He must have been a really powerful guy or something. But no matter.

"Okay, I got it, dude. It's Pain, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. You got it. Good job." He seemed very surprised that I knew the answer. "And now, as I said, I will let you through." He stepped over to a switch on the wall behind him and pressed it. The gate lowered with a severe creaking sound. Evidently, it hadn't seen much use recently.

He nodded at us. "All right, go on through."

"Thank you, sir. We will."

As we walked through, I saw with dismay that there was another gate and another hood on the other side of it. To make matters worse, the minute we stepped through so that we were between both of the gates, the first one closed, and we were trapped. Curses! I should have seen that one coming!

We looked around our tiny holding cell, and seeing no way out, I made a desperate attempt to get the guard's in front of us attention, for he appeared to be having a rest. Picking up a small rock, I took careful aim, and threw it at his head so as not to hurt him, but merely wake him up.

"Whazzat?" he shouted, instantly jumping to his feet and brandishing his knife. "Who's there? TELL ME!"

Hmm. He seemed slightly more off-kilter than the other two, meaning he was more dangerous. But still, I had to get his attention. "Uh, over here, sir. In between the gates."

He looked around, and seeing me standing there, walked up to the bars. "Huh," he said. "And just who the hell might you be?"

"My name does not matter right now, sir. All that matters is that I am trying to make my way to your boss. I have something I need to talk with him about, and frankly, I'm getting tired of all these delays. It's very important that I reach him soon, so if you would kindly let me out, I would be most grateful."

He laughed evilly. "You're asking a hood for help? Wow. That's the first time I've seen anyone stupid enough to do that.

"Butttttt, I'm a nice guy. So, I'll let you in on how to get out of there. If you look over there to your right, you'll see a hole in the wall. There's a switch at the back of that hole, so just stick your hand in there, push it, and the gate goes down, simple as that."

"Hmmm. Thanks, pal." I walked over to the wall and stared at the hole. It seemed innocent enough, and I was just about to place my hand in it before I caught sight of several eyes staring balefully back at me. Just as I had suspected, that bastard guard was going to try to get me bitten or stabbed or something by whatever lurked in that hole. This was an intricate trap, no doubt about that. But unfortunately for that guard, it would not work this time, and he would lose something very valuable as a result. I decided I would try my hand at trickery. He couldn't see me from where he was standing, so I decided the best thing to do would be to fake that I was bitten and hope that he opened the gate to check on me.

"YEOWCHHH!" I screamed. "Oh Ladon, that hurts like hell! DAMMIT! Ouch, ooch, ouch! I think I'm going to die! Someone help me! Arggghhhhh!"

Damn, that was embarrassing. Even though there were only four people in the room, I still felt my face turn scarlet once I had finished my act. But it was all worth it: the guard immediately lowered the gate (as I had suspected, the switch was indeed on his side) and came running my way.

"Haha, you stupid idiot! I knew you would be dumb enough to put your hand in there! That spider you were just bitten by is one of the deadliest in the world. Too bad for you! Hahaha…huh?"

His words got old real fast. Once I was convinced he had been fooled by me, I stood up, and began to advance on him, hate no doubt burning in my eyes.

"Hey, ease up there, man. It, it, it was just for f-f-fun, you know? That spider's not really poisonous…well, just a little, but still…oh, crap."

I hadn't wanted to, but anytime somebody like that makes such a blatant lie to my face, I have to do something. In this case, since there wasn't anything else to do, I decided to go for the kill. I drew my sword out, and aiming carefully, directed a slash towards his neck. My aim was true, and his head was sent rolling a second later.

Placing my sword back in my sheath, I stalked forward, ready to go down the stairs so I could continue in my quest. However, before I had gone ten steps, I noticed that Katt was still behind. She was probably disappointed in me for killing that guy. I would have to have a quick chat with her about it.

She was there, standing over the headless corpse. When she noticed me approaching, she pointedly looked away. Maybe she was scared as well as mad. It was hard to tell.

"Hey, listen, Katt," I said, walking over next to her. "It's not my fault. That guy tried to kill me, and then, on top of that, lied to my face. I absolutely never stand for that. It's a personal policy.

"So I cannot be blamed whatsoever. What did you want me to do anyways? Just beat him up? No, that wouldn't have solved the problem. He wouldn't have learned from that. He needed something a little more than a beating. And as much as I regretted to have to be the person to deliver his punishment, I was forced to. So, don't be mad at me. I haven't done anything to deserve it."

She turned to me with a deep sigh. "I know you haven't, Ryu. I'm not mad at you, either. It's just that I can't stand the killing of people, whether they are good or evil. Animals I'm fine with, but people…no. It just sets off something inside me. I don't know how to describe it, but I don't like it at all. It's not your fault, either. You didn't know about it.

"But I ask you only one thing. Anytime on our quest that we encounter humans that we are forced to slay, and that includes any other members of this gang that we might have to kill, don't let me see, okay? I would really appreciate that."

"All right, Katt. Will do, if I remember. My memory's not the best, so you might have to remind me the next time we meet some people."

"I will."

"Okay. Let's get a move on then. Who knows what's been going on with Nina and the boss by now?"

And so we proceeded onwards, now running due to the time we had lost with the two losers at the gates. Thankfully, though, following those two incidents, it was a clear path to the main room where I was sure almost all of the gang, including the boss, Nina, and Mina were gathered. No other run-ins with punks occurred, though I did manage to locate one of their weapons, a nice silvery dagger, which I pocketed for myself. I figured it would come in handy sooner or later.

When we finally arrived in the main cavern, we could discern several voices all talking at once. They were extremely loud, too, for the size of the cavern magnified their effects several times over. Neither of us could make out exactly where they were, though, loud as they were, but since we couldn't see them from where we were standing, we figured they were either in the middle of the room or at the back of it.

Silently, we crept along the side walls, being very cautious not to make any noise whatsoever. Several times, we stumbled and nearly fell, for there was very little light at all. However, we managed to get to the back with no real trouble.

When we had positioned ourselves on a cliff overlooking the whole room, we could make out in the dimness Nina's blond hair and Mina's blue hair. They were standing together in front of some humongous, toad-like man, who in turn was surrounded by a group of gang members. So that was the boss. I had expected a more sophisticated looking person. Oh, well.

"So, you're Nina, hmmm? I've been wanting to meet for a while now, my dear," he said. His voice had a tangible sense of shrewdness to it, much like Kilgore's, which was surprising to me. I had been expecting it to be phlegmy and nasty.

"So, my boys tell me you're a magician. Care to show us any tricks?" She shook her head vehemently. "Ah. That's a pity. I've never seen a magician do their stuff before, though I have always wanted to.

"Anyways, Nina, my dear, I have a proposal for you. What would you say to staying here with us, the Joker gang, for a while? I'm sure you would love it. It's not Windia, sure, but it beats staying at some rotten school, right? Haven't you been loving it since the moment you stepped foot in it?"

"Actually, sir, I haven't. I mean, it's a very nice cave and all, but I must say I didn't appreciate the way I was brought here, nor the reason. And I wish you would let me and my sister leave. Our family has been expecting us for quite a few hours now."

The boss smiled at her. "Don't worry, my dear. You shall get home to Windia soon enough, I promise you that….."

He continued talking here, but I didn't hear him out, because I was distracted by Katt. She had decided to step away from me again; she was probably going to try some fool-hardy rescue attempt of Mina. I prayed to Ladon I was wrong, but a second later, my fears were confirmed when I heard her voice cut through the air.

"All right, Joker, you got about five seconds to hand over both those girls, or you're going to be history. Comprende?"

Oh damn. Why did she have to go and do that? Now we were going to have to fight off a whole bunch of guards, something I had wanted to avoid doing.

The Joker (I guess that was his name) looked stunned. He had clearly not expected any other people to be in the cavern besides his men, Nina, and Mina. "Well, well, boys," he said. "Looks like we have a visitor. See if you can locate her."

All his cronies surrounding him (about 20) began to walk around carefully, looking in every direction except ours: up. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief. We still had the drop on them, even though Katt had made a huge blunder.

However, fortunately, we were saved a battle with the Joker's men. Seeing that she now had help, Nina decided to actually do something other than stand there. She first backed up several paces from the Joker, dragging Mina with one hand and forming a magic ball with the other. Those punks never saw it coming.

Once she was a sufficient distance from the boss, she let go of her sister, and formed another mass of energy in her free hand. _Ooh. This was going to be interesting,_ I thought. _Two energy orbs. That means double the damage. And I remember well how much damage she caused with just one. I feel sorry for those guys._

When the orbs had each grown to about the size of her head, she let them go, throwing her arms forward and yelling as she did so. As she did, twin bolts of lightning sizzled out, blinding in their whiteness. They appeared to have homing capabilities as well, for they did not merely go in a straight line as they sought out and destroyed every one of the hoodlums; no, they flew all over the place, going diagonally, in between walls, horizontally, any way, so long as a gang member was present in that direction. It took them mere seconds to eliminate the whole crew, and once they finished that duty, they spiraled upward into the ceiling above the astonished Joker, causing a huge landslide that brought several large boulders down on him, even as he threw up his arms to avoid them.

I was amazed. Now that was magic, so far as I was concerned: the ability to call upon ultimate destructive powers. As I said earlier, physical power is nothing compared to that which can cause mass destruction in a heartbeat. I was, quite simply, awed by Nina's power. It made me realize just how small and insignificant we were.

I must have spent quite a while standing there in shock, because by the time I had snapped out of my little stupor and looked around, I saw that the three girls were getting ready to leave. But, with my little sixth sense, I felt…that something was not quite right. We had forgotten to do something, but what? The little cronies had been taken care of (quite well, at that) and Joker himself was gone. Hmm. Maybe I was just overreacting.

I turned to join the rest of my crew, and suddenly heard a very ominous sounding rumbling noise directly behind me. It sounded quite like a bunch of rocks being pushed off of something, and as luck would have it, when I turned around again, I found that that was exactly what it was.

The Joker, as I figured, couldn't go down so easily as his followers. He simply was not allowed to. Leaders never were; they were tough and resilient, everything their soldiers wanted to be. And unfortunately, in this case, that meant we were going to have another fight.

I turned my head slightly to the side to see if my help had come back yet. Unbelievably, they were still standing near the door, and were, in fact, just about to step through it!

"WAIT!" I called out. They turned their heads towards me, each wearing an expression of puzzlement.

"Hey, guys, guess what?" I shouted. "The Joker's not dead yet! And it would really be great if you could get your collective butts over here right now to help me with him."

I could see their expressions change to those of surprise and terror in the blink of an eye, and they immediately began rushing in my direction. Once they arrived, they all began to ready for battle: Katt drew her staff out, and Nina and Mina began to chant some incantations and formulate energy in their palms.

"Hahahaha," I heard the Joker call out. "Guess you weren't expecting that, now were you? Well, let me tell you, I didn't used to have the power to survive fatal blows like that. But now I do, thanks to the one and only Deathevan. That guy is awesome, let me tell you."

He then stepped out totally from beneath the rubble and into the light, and I could see his body had completely mutated. Instead of a fat, short man, he was now a fat, short demon. Little horn nubs had sprouted all over his now-lavender skin, and two bigger horns were on either side of his head. He flicked his tongue in and out of his mouth, and I noticed that it was at least 2 feet in length. His hands and feet, though no longer human, were not really animalistic or demonic; they were not clawed or flippered or anything like that. They were just…different looking.

"Well, now boys and girls, you went and ruined the party I all had in mind. Why'd you have to go and do that? It was going to be a lot of fun."

He seemed disturbingly kiddy for a grown man. No wonder he had gotten that nickname Joker; he was just like an oversized clown, even in that hideously ugly demon getup.

"It's over, Joker," I called out. "You're outnumbered four-to-one, and you're not even armed. You have no shot at all of winning you know. Just give up now, and I won't have to kill you. I'll take you over to Hometown, and you can get yourself transformed back into your human form. You can't have any more gangs, true, but that's okay. I'm sure such a guy like you could find a different way to utilize your time other than spending it with losers like these. Come on with us."

He laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle that seemed to overflow like a geyser from the pit of his stomach. "You…you really think I'll go with you?" he said between laughs. "You must be crazy, kid! I know who you are, and what your powers are. You could probably rip me apart right now from where you're standing without so much as blinking an eye. So, yeah, you can forget about me coming with you. I appreciate the offer though, kid. You seem like a good person. It's a shame my master will have to kill you."

There it was again. Another reference to my "hidden powers." Just what in Ladon's name WERE they? I had never displayed any outstanding characteristics in my whole life, unless bravery was counted, and I certainly could not kill people by standing there and thinking about it (though I did wish I could). I decided the best thing to do would be ask the fat man.

"All right, Joker, tell me. What is it that makes me so special, hmm? Your pal Augus mentioned it to me when I battled him earlier, and now you make note of it again. Who is this master of yours, this Deathevan, and why am I such a threat to him? You mind explaining that to me?"

"Well, kid, I'm sorry, but I can't oblige you. You see, speaking of the devil, Deathevan is actually calling for me right now, and I have to go catch up with him. I would honestly stay and chat with you all day about your mystical, inhuman powers that haven't been seen for hundreds of years if I could, but I can't. So sorry."

And then, suddenly, inexplicably, displaying a talent I never suspected he had, the Joker disappeared. Just vanished into thin air. No smoke, no booms, no anything. He was just there and gone. I had never seen anybody perform a trick like that before, and it scared me. His master had to have incredible powers to just whisk him away like that. It would be a while before I could face a being that had that power.

Well, I figured that since now he was gone, it was time to hit the road. I turned around and called out to my friends that the Joker had departed for now (though I knew they were already aware of that fact), and that all would be safe. Upon hearing this, they let out a great cheer, and then turned and exited the cavern. Happy that my duty here was done (though I was not pleased the Joker managed to get away), I too exited the room and prepared to make my way back to Hometown.


	9. Windia

Windia

As I arrived on the other side of the door, I saw that all three of the girls were standing there waiting for me, and the sisters were looking anxious, though I couldn't imagine why.

"What's up, people?" I asked. "How come you two are looking so down-hearted?"

They both looked at each other for a second before answering simultaneously, "We think we've worried Mother."

I was confused. "Worried Mother? How so?"

"She wanted us home by midday," Nina volunteered. "Father doesn't care what time we get back, so long as we do, but seeing as how Mother is the real ruler in our house, we have to listen to her. Anyways, we were supposed to attend one of those parties, you know? The ones where all the rich people of the town come and try to suck up to the king so they can go golfing with him and what not and then get tax cuts since they are now such "good friends" with him." Here I looked over at Katt and raised my eyebrows. Obviously we were in the presence of either some very, very rich or very, very powerful girls. Only the rich and powerful talk about such things in the way she did, after all: not caring in the least.

I turned back to Nina and motioned for her to continue, which she did. "Anyways, they get very boring very fast, so Mina and I figured this time, we would ditch it, and we did. This morning, we both left and decided to go over to Hometown to check up on how our Magic School teachers were doing. Well, we both saw them, said hello, you know the drill, and then went shopping for a bit, but that town has some pretty sorry stores, so we weren't really able to find anything. But, it was just fun to walk around and get some fresh air and be away from that overbearing mother of ours.

"And then, of course, I think you know the rest. Mina left to go somewhere, where was it, Mina ("the bathroom", Mina said). Oh, yes. Anyways, she left and I was just standing on the steps to the Magic School waiting and those dudes came over and started messing with me. So I made like I was going to zap them; I didn't, but I came very close. And then, of course, after I scared them off, I went in, talked to Yoji about the gang, and then Ryu came along. And I believe we all know what happened from there.

"And now, it is…" She glanced down at her watch. "5 PM. 5 hours after we were supposed to be back. And now you see our dilemma. Mother will kill us if we don't have a perfect excuse lined up for her."

"Well, in that case, just make something up," I said. "I'm sure you can think of something that she'll accept. She can't be that picky."

They shook their heads sadly. "No, unfortunately, that won't work, for she IS that picky. None of the lies we ever tell are any good, and she sees right through them," Nina bemoaned. "Even the ones we spent hours on she shot down fast as lightning. And we don't wanna get in trouble the minute we go back, which is exactly what will happen if we fail to come up with a good lie."

"Hmmm. I guess I'll think up something……Okay, how's this: you just flat-out tell the truth. Nina, just say you were being harassed by some gang punks, and then say that they threatened you and took Mina away. Then just say you went to go rescue her, and you succeeded. Simple as that."

Again, they shook their heads. "I wish it was, but that's no good, either, Ryu," Mina spoke up quietly. "If we say that, Mother will immediately go over to Mina and start hugging her and crying and bawling about how close her baby had come to death, then she'll turn on me, and demand just why we were hanging around gang-infested territory in the first place, and act as if the entire thing was my fault, and then by the time we get a chance to explain ourselves, she will have already dumped a million questions on our heads, and we can't answer them all. Then, she gets mad, and we get grounded. So you gotta think of something else, though I do appreciate your efforts so far."

"No problem, no problem. Hmmm. All right, I got it. Say that you were having such a great time talking with Yuri about your school that you completely lost track of the time, and by the time you realized that, it was very late. I doubt even your mother will reject something that is educational in nature like that."

Nina made as if she was going to speak up, but then closed her mouth. She looked over at Mina, who returned her gaze, and both nodded, then turned and faced me again. "That just might work, Ryu," Nina said. "As strict as she is, Mother loves all things dealing with education. She won't be totally happy, but I think that it will fly. In fact, I'm sure it will. Thank you. You just saved me from a lot of potential grief." She directed a bright smile in my direction, which I tried my best to return.

"You're welcome," I said. "Now, are we ready to go?"

----------------------

"Whew!" Nina gasped. "Finally home!"

Rather than say anything to her, Katt and I merely gaped at the sight in front of us. We were standing at the side entrance to the city of Windia, and standing right near us was an enormous palace. I had never before seen such a large edifice, and I doubted Katt had either. I felt quite small next to it.

"Hey, come on, you two. Quit staring and let's get going. It's late enough as it is."

"Y-yeah," I said. "Sorry, Nina." I grabbed Katt, who was still gazing up at the castle, and dragged her along into the basement, which is where the side entrance led to.

It was just like any other basement: dirty, damp, smelly, rat infested, and just overall disgusting to be in. As we arrived, I immediately perceived two things: a gate that barred us from going any further, and a guard sitting on the other side of that gate, whistling to himself while tapping out a beat with his hands. Obviously, he didn't see a whole lot of anything down here.

"A-hem," Nina said, clearing her throat. Like a flash, the guard was up off his seat and looking to see who had called him.

"Who, what, where?" the guard asked. He was looking in every direction except in front of him, so he still didn't spot us.

"Over here, Jake," Mina breathed out. Upon hearing his name, the fellow named Jake stopped acting like a madman and walked over to the gate.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Misses Nina and Mina. How are you two girls? Did you know it's 5:30? I'm sure your mother won't be very happy to see you at this time. She might even send you out of the castle."

"Can it, Jake," Nina said fiercely. "I've had a rough day, and the last thing I need now is any of your crap, all right? Just open the stupid gate and let us in already."

"Whoa-ho, there, Nina. Getting a little testy over nothing. Just trying to lighten the mood a little, you know? Sheesh…" He grabbed the lock on the gate, twisted the key, and shoved it open. "There you are, your Highnesses. Now, go on through so I can lock up."

"Gee, thanks a lot, Jake. You're real nice," Nina said sardonically as we went through. As soon as I made my way to the other side, Jake immediately grabbed the gate and pulled it the opposite way and locked it up, so that it now once again stood barred. He then settled back in his chair again and commenced his strange rhythms.

"So, uh, Nina," I said. "What was that thing that dude said about highnesses? Don't tell me you and Mina are actually…"

"Oh," she said, obviously flustered. "Dang it. That stupid Jake never knows when to keep his mouth shut. Oh well. Our little secrets out then, I guess. Yes, Ryu, Mina and I are both princesses of Windia. Our father is the King and our mother the Queen. However, we're just like the other Windian teens; we're no different."

"Oh…Well, don't worry. I wasn't going to be biased towards or against you. I just wanted to know. I believe I had known once that Mina was a princess, but I guess it never crossed my mind when I saw her and you together that you too was a princess. I mean, you don't act like one, really."

"Darn right I don't. That stuff's not for me. All the fakery, all the lies, all the deceit…it's just not a suitable lifestyle to me. And of course, my mother hates that. She thinks I should be a 'princess through and through.' Can you beat that?"

"Well, I can sort of understand where she's coming from. I mean, ya'll are a very old race, are you not, full of rich heritage and what not?"

"Yeah. But so? That just means there was a whole line of Windian royalty who was deceived and duped by the lure of power and prestige. I'm wasn't, therefore, I don't want to abide by the rules set for those who do."

"Oh," I said. "That's cool. I'm sort of like that. My dad had been a priest for as long as I could remember, and he was always telling me that he wanted me to carry on the family occupation. But that stuff didn't interest me in the slightest. It was boring, plus there was practically no one to preach too. Our town had less than a dozen inhabitants. So I made up my mind that I would go out and do whatever I felt like, though of course I never told him. Didn't want to disappoint him any more than I already had. And so, once we were separated, I left Gate, and went out exploring. I ended up over at Hometown, and I've been there ever since, ten years."

"Wow," Nina said. "I wish I could do that. Go out on my own at an early age, go wherever I feel like…sounds like you had quite a fun time as a kid, Ryu."

I was silent for a moment, before saying quietly, but with just the slightest hint of anger, "Not really. The only reason I left was because my family was taken away from me, the villagers rejected me, and I would had to have stayed in the church with a bunch of punks the rest of my life had I stayed. So I split, along with my pal Bow, and we left together. We met this huge monster in a cave near Gate, and he nearly killed us both. But, for some reason, we were only knocked unconscious, and when I came to, I was in some strange area that I've never seen before. That place turned out to be Hometown; its elder had been on his way to visit my father in Gate, to discuss whatever stuff preachers talk about, and he just so happened to stumble upon my and Bow's bodies. The monster had gone, I suppose, or else that guy would have been dead meat. Anyways, he picked up both up, and, rather than go to see my dad, he left and went back to Hometown. There we were nursed back to health, for both of us had some nasty wounds from that's creatures claws. And we remained there in Hometown for 10 years, both of us being trained to serve as rangers, up until just about a week or so ago. And now, Bow's over in a shack near Mt. Fubi, and I'm about to meet the King and Queen of Windia. So, to answer your question, and I do apologize for not having done so already, no, I really didn't enjoy my time as a child. It was boring, very difficult, and wasteful. Nothing I did then had an impact on who I am now."

"Oh. Well, sorry for asking. I didn't know."

"Don't be. It's perfectly all right. Don't think I'm mad at you or anything like that. It just upsets me a little to talk about my past, that's all. Painful, you know?"

"Kind of. I mean, I don't really know, honestly, since I'm a princess and all. Life's treated me pretty darn well, I would say. But I can say that I am very sorry for what happened to you. You didn't deserve to have that take place to you."

I nodded. "Well, Nina, I certainly appreciate your thoughtfulness. All I ask is that you avoid that subject around me from now on. It's hard on my emotions, though my face might not show it."

"All righty then. I will refrain from ever discoursing on that matter again." She snapped a military salute at me, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Well," she continued. "We're here."

I looked around. I had been so engrossed in my recollection of my past that I hadn't even seen where we had been going. Evidently, we had made our way out of the basement, for the walls, floor, and everything else looked totally different, the air smelled much cleaner, and there were guards stationed in every area, and some of them were walking around doing the things guards do.

"By the way, since my sister has failed to tell you anything about this place, like she's supposed to," Mina said, looking reproachfully over at her sister, who only shrugged and gave her a grin, "we're on the top floor of the castle now. There's only three, counting the basement. Down below is where all the lesser nobles stay (and I beg your pardon if that came out sounding conceited), as well as the knight, and also where the dining room is. Up here, of course, is our room and Mother and Father's room. The throne room is over there," she pointed to an area to our right that had door with a pair of wings situated over it, "and this area is just the common hallway. It's where we all walk around, talk, interact, you know, while we're doing our various chores and activities. And speak of the devil, here comes Mother now."

I snapped my head to the front. There before us, only a few feet away and marching quickly forward, was a very angry looking woman. Physically speaking, she appeared to be an older version of Mina. Most of her beauty had faded away, though you could still see remnants of it. Her wings were the same color as Mina's (white), but were far bigger. She was all dressed up in a very expensive dress; I figured that the party that Nina had been talking about was about to begin.

But she wasn't going there or anyplace else until she talked to her daughters first. Nina and Mina had time to exchange a very quick glance before their mother pounced on them.

"All right," she hissed to them. "Where in Ladon's name have you girls been? I've been worried sick about you, and even your Father has shown some signs of caring. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Nina looked down at her watch slowly. I could tell she didn't care a whole lot about her mother's tirades. "Well," she said. "According to my watch, it's 5:45. PM."

"That's right," her mother said. "5:45! That's almost six hours after the time we agreed upon that you two would be home. I hope you thought of something darn good, young lady. You're going to need the best lie ever to get out of this one."

"Okay, Mother," Nina said after a pause. "Here's the deal. No lies, jus the truth. Remember how I said I was going to pay a visit to my teacher Yoji, over at the Magic School in Hometown? Well, the thing is, I haven't seen in him in so long, and I was planning on staying about an hour or so. But when I stopped by and saw he wasn't busy, I just got to talking with him about life and school and magic and all that good stuff. We were just getting into a really good discussion over the proper technique of casting a tornado when suddenly I had a mind snap, and I realized just how late it was. So I stood up, thanked Yoji for his time, said I had to go, and left. And I sped over here as fast as I could. And that's the honest truth."

"Hmmm." Her mother put a thoughtful expression on her face. "And where was Mina in all this?"

"Oh, she was with me."

"And she didn't realize the time, either?"

"No, ma'am."

"Ah…I see. Well, in that case…….you're off the hook." She sighed deeply. Evidently she didn't do let Nina off very often. "I have just one question, though, before you get all crazy on me…"

But it was too late. As soon as her mother had said the phrase "off the hook", Nina stood still for a second, apparently thunderstruck. "Are you serious?" she asked, and without waiting for an answer, continued. "WOW! I can't believe this! Did you hear that, Mina? We're off the hook! For once in our lives, we're not being grounded for something we did. Yippee!" She grabbed her very surprised sister by the waist and twirled her around a bit, then set her down and began to spin herself.

"NINA!" her mother cried out. "Calm down. I've got a splitting headache. Besides, you're not totally free just yet. I still need to tell you two things."

Nina stopped spinning immediately. "What is it?"

"Well, the first thing is more of a question. Who are your friends here?"

"Oh, I apologize, guys," she said, turning around to face us. "I completely forgot to introduce you. Mother, this is Ryu, who rescu…er, never mind. And that is Katt. Ryu and Katt, this is my mother, Hilda Winchien." I stuck out my hand for shaking, and Nina's mother took it firmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," I said cordially. "Nina has told us quite a bit about you."

Hilda looked over at Nina carefully before responding. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

"Uh, no. Not at all. She was just bursting with positive things to say about you."

"Hmm. Interesting. Well, welcome to the castle of Windia, Ryu. I hope you enjoy your stay here with us, however long that may be. Friends of Nina and Mina are welcome to stay as long as is necessary." She moved on to shake Katt's hand and make a conversation with her, so I looked over to Nina and gave her the thumbs up. She looked startled for a second at seeing it, then returned it. When I turned around, Hilda was again standing in front of us.

"Okay, children. Now that we've all been introduced, I can say my second thing that I need to say. Nina, as you know…"

Nina interrupted impatiently. "What? What now?"

Her mother simply smiled. "You have a party to go to."

----------------------

20 minutes later, Nina, Mina, Katt, and I were all dressed up in some very fancy party clothes. Of course, Nina and Mina looked fine in theirs, seeing as they had plenty of sets, but Katt's and mine were terrible. Katt had this ugly yellow dress on that clashed horribly with her orange fur (plus she looked bad in it; dresses were definitely not her style), and I was dressed up in some suit that Nina's grandfather had once worn. The worst part about it was that it had two gaping holes in the back cut out for wings, so I was walking around with half my undershirt exposed for everyone to see.

"Nina," I asked. "Why in Ladon's name are you all throwing another party? Didn't you say you had one earlier that you were escaping?"

"Er, yes. I did."

"Then why are your parents hosting another one right now? It's barely been a few hours since the first one."

"I dunno. They're weird. Don't ask me. Just enjoy it, if you can. I doubt you will be able to, though."

"Hmm. Maybe, maybe not."

We were all standing outside the throne room. It looked like we were the only kids there, which made it excruciatingly boring for us. There were mostly middle aged men and women, all dressed up in their best suits and dresses, each probably costing ten thousand plus gil, all walking around, sampling the food dishes (which were about the best part about the whole shebang), and always going back to the King and Queen. Nina had been right: they did just come to suck up to the King. Every time I looked over towards him, he was being surrounded by a bunch of sycophants. I could tell he wasn't even listening to half of them, though. He just nodding and smiling at all of them, which is always a sure sign you're not paying attention to something.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of nothing but idle chatter, mostly dealing with the day's crazy events, Nina yawned and stretched her wings out. "Well, people, it's been fun talking with you, but I am going to retire for the evening. Mina, you should probably come too. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow…On second thought, why don't we all go to sleep? It's been a long day for us all. Come on."

Both Nina and Mina also made ready to go, but I stayed rooted to my spot. "If it's okay with all of you," I said, "I'm going to remain out here a bit longer. I'm not quite ready to go to bed just yet."

Mina nodded at me. "Sure, Ryu. Whenever you're ready, go down the hall to the very end and go in the right door. The room in there should be fixed up already for you. Good night."

"Good night, Mina. Good night Nina. And good night, Katt."

The other two said their good nights to me and headed off down the hall to catch up to Mina, who had already turned and was walking away. I was left alone, with a bunch of people that I didn't know and who didn't know me.

However, I was only alone for a few more moments, as the King had spotted his daughters leaving, and so came over to hang with me for a few minutes and keep me company. Tottering slightly, probably due to some slight inebriation, he walked over and began a conversation, hiccupping a little as he did so.

"So…" he said after a pause. "You're the man who rescued my precious daughters. Young man, for that, I am hic forever indebted to you."

"Oh no, sir," I said quickly. "Don't think of yourself as such. It was my duty, after all; I am a ranger of Hometown, and anything troublesome that I spot, I am bound to take care of."

"Uh-huh. Okay. Well, whatever you are, you sure hic know how to fight. According to what I've heard, you just completely demolished that damn Joker gang and their filthy leader."

"Er, actually, sir, I didn't. I don't know who told you that, but you can ask Nina or Mina about it. And Katt as well. They were there, and they will tell you that I did not kill anyone or even really hurt them. I don't kill just to kill, sir; I'm no animal. The only times I will ever do so are when my life is in extreme peril, which it wasn't ever during the course of my trip through the Joker's hideout." I figured it would be best not to mention the fact that Nina had been the one who slaughtered the gang, since he was obviously very protective of her.

"Oh. Well then, how about when other people's lives hic are in 'extreme peril?' Like my daughters', for instance. How about **that**?" He said this last word forcefully, probably hoping to make me feel guilty.

_Ooh, _I thought. _I shouldn't have said that_. _Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut?_ _This is going to be a little tricky to get out of._ "Well, you see, sir, uh, that is," I stammered, "I personally did not perceive Nina and Mina to be in any mortal danger. Joker did have them in his clutches, that is true, but by the time I got there, he had not done and was not doing anything at all to them except talking to them. So I let him be until I was able to get in a position to have them released without killing him."

"Oh. Right. Well, aren't you a ranger? Isn't it your duty to protect the people from murderers and thieves like that Joker character? Well?"

Ladon, he was pushy. "Er, yes, actually. But what you're asking me to do is kill anyone who you believe might be a threat at the present time, even though they might not be doing anything bad, correct?"

"That's right."

_Hmm. That's some messed-up logic, but okay. _"Well, sir, let me ask you this. And don't take this the wrong way. Say you have stolen something before in your life. I'm not saying you have, I'm just giving an example. Just once in your life, you have been a thief, and took, say, a fruit piece from some vendor. Now, would you appreciate it very much if I would have come up to you at this party tonight and beat the crap out of you and then hauled you off to jail? On the mere pretense that you have stolen before, and thus, you might do it again?"

He stood there for a second silently, obviously flustered. I doubted most people talked to him this way; after all, he was king. "Well, I…er, no, of course not…that would be idiotic…oh, oh I see……Oh hell. You're right, son, absolutely right. What the hell was I thinking, jumping all over you like that as if you had done something wrong when all you did was save my daughters? I hope you can accept my apologies."

"Don't worry about that, sir. It's all good. I completely understood where you were coming from. You're a father, and a father of a princess, and two of them at that, so of course you would be worried more than most parents about the well being of your daughters. So there's really no need to apologize."

"Oh. Okay, then, if you insist. But still, I feel terrible for doing that to you, a guest of Nina and Mina that I didn't even know. Anytime you need something, anytime at all, just come talk to me, and I will do whatever I can to help."

"Thank you very much, sir." I made a deep bow. "I sincerely appreciate it."

"Don't mention it."

"All right." We stood for a few moments in silence, before I spoke up again. "Well, actually, sir, there is something you could possibly do for me, right this instant."

"Fire away, my boy."

"Well, you see, for the last week or so, I've been trying to hunt down a thief that took an object from a rich man in Hometown. I don't care about getting the object back; that's none of my concern. But you see, whenever the thief left town, my friend ended up getting the blame for it. I had to escort him out of the town and into a shack on the west side of Mt. Fubi in a trash can. Right now, he's staying with the owner of that shack, and he's been itching to leave as soon as possible. He asked to keep a sharp lookout for the thief, and to ask anyone I might meet about her."

He stroked his long beard thoughtfully. "Hmm. And what does this thief of ours look like, son?"

"Well, actually, I don't have a very good description, but what I do know of her will probably be enough to locate her. Okay, here it is. Whenever she bumped into me, and ran away, I had just enough time to see that she had blue-black hair, probably a couple of shades darker than mine. Oh yeah, and she had wings, like those of a bat. And that's it, though I'm sure that's plenty to go off of."

"Wings, eh? Interesting, very interesting, indeed…"

"Sir? Have you seen her before?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I have. I was going into the vault two days ago, so I could check on the stock. And lo and behold, some little girl came zooming out of there as soon as I opened it out. I was quite astonished to see such a sight, and I quickly looked in to make sure nothing was missing. All our treasures had still been intact, thank Ladon; evidently, the thief had not found whatever it was she had been looking for. Still, I rushed out and asked the guard who stood by the vault door if he had just seen what I had seen. He said, yes, he had. And I asked him, did you get a glimpse at what she looked like? He said nothing for a few seconds, and I despaired that she might have gotten away without leaving us any way to track her down. But my hope was renewed when he said she had wings. And blue hair. But that was all he had been able to see. And that, Ryu boy, matches the description of your thief as well. Now, I have no idea how that girl managed to get in; that guard, along with others, had been there the entire day, and to even get in, you have to know the password. She must be an expert lockbreaker or something; I'm just happy she didn't take anything."

"Wow," I said. "Thanks a whole lot, sir. You might have just saved me weeks of aimless travel. By chance, did you ask around about her anymore, and try to see where she might have gone?"

"Actually, I did. As soon as that guard in the room finished telling me his description of her, I immediately left and began quizzing all the guards on her. Most had no clue what I was talking about, and even the ones who did hadn't seen but a quick glimpse. We have only two entrances out this castle: the side way you came in, and the front door. I had a hunch she would leave out the side, so I went down and asked Jake if he had seen her. He said no. I was disappointed; my hunch had been wrong. So I went back upstairs and asked Hilda if she had seen anything. She too said no. I was getting mighty frustrated then, so I decided to make my way outside the castle and into the town itself. Of course, the townspeople immediately started bowing down and what now, but I had not time for their respects at that moment. I asked all of them if they had seen a girl with wings and blue hair come through the town, and every single one said yes, surprisingly. The item store owner even said he had seen her in his store, but he just figured her to be another strange customer and didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to her. He did say, though, that she had been extremely fidgety, and ended up leaving the store without buying anything, which he thought nothing of. Plenty of customers do that, after all."

"Right," I said. "And were you able to find out from these people where she was heading to?"

"Well, of course, she made a dash for the way out of town once she left the item store, according to them. Which would only be natural, I guess. And that's all I know. She didn't say a word to anyone, so no one knows exactly where she went to. All I know is, she's not in Windia anymore, and she likely won't be back for a while, at least not without some disguise or something."

"Is there any towns or anything like that around here? Something that might be a safe place to stay for a while?"

"Well, there is a town to the west, Capitan. It's no fort town or anything, but it might be a good place for a thief to stay for a while if she's trying not to be noticed. But, in our thief's case, she would be noticed no matter where she goes. So, Capitan would probably be your best bet. From here, the only way to get back to the other side is through the dungeon (which she obviously didn't go through) and down south, near the mountain range. But there's a lengthy gap between the two landpieces, and I doubt very much if someone without very long arms could cross it."

"I see. Well, that helps out tremendously. Thank you very much, sir. You have no idea how much this means to me. Now, finally, I might just be able to track her down."

"It was the least I could do, Ryu. And I still owe you, even after what I just gave you. So, again, I say to you: if ever you might need something, come back here. I'm sure Nina and Mina will be glad to see you. Well, anyways, I must be going now. It's been to meet you and talk with you, Ryu. I bid you good-night." And he turned and walked away, pushing away the flocking sycophants so that he could make his way to his room.

I stood there only a few minutes only he had excused himself, watching the ever-dwindling number of partygoers continue to make themselves drunk. I smiled at their idiocy; I was one never given to drink at all, and thus, I saved myself a good deal of hassle. After seeing the tenth guy in a row stumble and fall onto the floor, only to pick himself right back up again and continue drinking, I decided it was time to call it a night. So I headed over to my room, my mind racing with the events of the day. Meeting Nina, saving her and her sister from a crazy gang leader, finding out that the gang leader was a demon, coming to the fabled city of Windia, and finally figuring out some information about my little thief. I smiled. It had been a good day.

----------------------

A burst of incandescent radiance filled the once pitch black room. The Joker was there, as well as a great dragonish looking beast, whose mysteriously colored skin was the source of the light, and a shadowed figure. The shadowy creature made no movement; it only watched the scene unfold. The Joker did not know it was present; he believed the only ones present were himself and Barubary. The shadowy creature did not care; he would make his presence known soon enough.

"Barubary, man," Joker wheezed out. His lungs were still burning from all that dust he had inhaled. "You gotta cut me some slack. How was I supposed to just up and kill the damn DESTINED CHILD right there; I mean, I was given specific orders not to touch him no matter what, and leave him for our God. You know that better than anyone else. After all, you gave me that order."

There was silence from the towering creature for a while. Then he spoke, and when he did, Joker flinched. "I am indeed aware of the fact that I issued that command to you, Joker. Do not think it has slipped my mind. But remember. That man is the one destined to defeat our God; does that fact not register in your puny brain? What were you thinking so as not to at least capture him, to bring him here to our God?"

"Well, I…" Joker began. It was obvious to him that he had to give a very good answer or something bad would happen to him. "Well, come on! Think about it! He's the destined child. His power is said to be beyond that of mortal comprehension. He is the last of the Brood, for crying out loud, and according to the rumors, the most powerful of them as well. You think that if he wanted to, he couldn't kill me just like that?" He snapped his fingers loudly to emphasize his point, and the sound echoed eerily inside the huge, empty room.

Again, there was silence on Barubary's part for a long bit. Then he spoke. "And you, Joker, one of the elite followers of our God, were scared of a little blue-haired punk? Do you not remember ten years ago, when I nearly smote him upon seeing him, and if it had not been for that cursed power of his, he would have been dead instantly? Do you honestly think he has realized his true powers since then, that he has nurtured them and caused them to grow? Of course not! If he had, we would have felt it. And since neither I nor our God has felt any disturbances, there is no reason to think he would have any powers beyond that of a human."

"Oh, sure, easy for you to say. Well, remember, Barubary, I don't have the powers that you do. I couldn't sense whether or not he had his full-blown abilities yet or not, and I figured it was better to not risk it than take a chance and possibly be killed." The Joker knew he was pushing his luck, and silently criticized himself for doing so.

Once more, there was no speech to retort him; but when the silence was finally broken, it was done so not by Barubary, but by the mysterious figure.

"Joker," the voice said; it was one of an old man, and yet one filled with emotions; Joker could discern anger, sadness, happiness, and pride in that one word alone. He stiffened. He had heard that voice before, and it had scared him those times just as it did now. "Joker, Joker, you disappoint me greatly. You, a supposed great follower of me, failed to take the destined child into your clutches when he stood no more than ten yards away from you, armed with a mere sword, and you had all the powers of the demon world, along with twenty or so soldiers. Yes, you might have been killed, but that would have been all right. Did not you pledge to be willing to give up everything you had when you were inducted into my services? And, if I recall correctly, that included your life."

Joker took a huge gulp. Never before had Deathevan himself made a personal trip to see him before. He had been in his service for seven years now, and only once had he ever spoken to him, and he had been furious then, a wonder to behold. It had been amazing that the Joker hadn't been killed then. He started to sweat a little. _Why am I sweating? He's not going to do anything to me. Why should he? I haven't done anything wrong. Even he wouldn't try to hurt me for something I could not possibly have controlled. _"Errrr, well, master, as I just explained to Barubary, I feared he might destroy me; and besides, I know you said you wanted him for yourse-…"

"Yes, yes, Joker, I know that," Deathevan said calmly. "I've been listening to you blather on for the last few minutes, and that had been all you have said. Now, I'm going to ask you one more time, and I would like a satisfactory reply this time. Why didn't you take the destined child prisoner when you had about two dozen of your little gang members there in the cavern with you to back you up? It was just him and those three little girls, and yet, the way I saw things go down, your men got completely annihilated."

"YES! Exactly!" Joker burst out. "That little girl I had captured, Nina, her magical powers are devastating. I haven't seen anyone with powers like that since I first met Habaruku. I was nearly killed by a landslide that she caused to fall on top of me through some form of lightning magic, and that same bit of magic wiped out my entire force. What were they supposed to do against power like that, anyways? They've been trained to guard against physical blows, not magic powers such as that. Luckily, though, my demon powers enabled my survival, and I was able to get up from underneath the rock pile without significant damage thanks to them. I thank you graciously for them, master." He made a deep bow.

Deathevan sighed. "Joker, Joker. Perhaps…it would have better for you to have died there in that landslide. It would have been quick, easy, painless, and spared me a job I quite frankly don't like doing much. But now, thanks to your stupid demon powers that I should never have given, I have to endure the burdensome task of killing you right now. You know I hate to do that." He fell into a silence for a bit, then begin to hum softly to himself, and as he did so, black threads of energy began to course themselves up from the floor and entwine themselves around his body.

Joker made a strangled noise. _What? What the hell are those things? Is he actually going to try to kill me? How could he want to? I have done nothing wrong! He's kidding, he has to be…but no. I keep forgetting, he's Deathevan, the God of the world, a God famed for his mercilessness. Why would he lie? He has no reason to sugarcoat anything. If Deathevan tells you that you are going to die, you are most definitely going to in the grave soon. Curse you, Ryu you stupid destined child. You lost me my gang, which I spent my whole life building up; you stripped me of my honor, and forced me to flee like a coward; and now, you have doomed me by not allowing yourself to be captured! NOOOOOOOOO. Why does this always happen to guys like me? Just because we're not the strongest? Or the smartest? I don't know. Who does anyways?… Oh damn._

For now before him stood Deathevan in all his horrific glory. His transformation from old man to mighty demon god had been completed in the span of thirty seconds, and he now towered over the trembling Joker. His huge mouth was open wide, and the Joker was unfortunate enough to see rows upon rows of needle sharp, red stained teeth in it. He turned and tried to make a run for it; a desperate move, but it was his only option. But as he did so, the light emanating from Barubary's body flickered out, and he stumbled and fell in the sudden darkness. It was the last mistake he ever made.


	10. Interlude: Mina's Tales & Leaving Windia

Interlude- Mina's Tale/Leaving Windia

_Ugh. Is it morning already? Damn. I really shouldn't have stayed up so late. Stupid party. How'd I get roped into that? We got a long journey ahead of us, after all, and I can't be up all night all the time. Got to be refreshed for the long walks I have to take, after all._

After opening my eyes slowly, my focus set in on the ceiling above me. Thankfully, it wasn't spinning around too crazily. I thanked Ladon I didn't feel like I had a hangover. I've only had a few before, but man, are they bad.

I sat up and shook my head violently to clear any last remnants of drowsiness from my brain. Woooo. Time to get ready for another long day. Hopefully, this one wouldn't involve meeting any mutated insects, battling a demon-led gang, or any such other crazy stuff. I had had endured enough the past week or so to make me never want to travel again. But still, my commitment to helping Bow still stood, and I needed to help him. And now that I had finally gotten some info on my thief (albeit not too much), my confidence was bolstered, and I felt much better about the situation than I had in a long while.

Being careful to take as much time as I could, I went over to a basin in the corner of the room and washed up, combed my hair, and all that. I then slipped on the uniform that was laid across the dresser to my right. Finally, I grabbed my sword, which I had hidden beneath the bed, and tied it to my belt. All right. Now it was time to go.

---------------------------

As I stumbled my way into the kitchen (having been directed there by two very irate guards), I noticed a spot had been set up for me next to the king, who was already seated and eating, along with Hilda, Nina, Mina, and Katt. Well, at least I hadn't completely missed breakfast.

"Howdy, people," I said as I walked over and plopped down. "So, what's going on?"

"We're eating, Ryu," Nina answered. "Or did the champagne from last night muck up your eyesight?"

I hated girls sometimes, especially when they were sarcastic. "Yes, Nina, I can see that. My question was not really asking what was happening now, but more of a future question. Like, 'what is going on…today?' is what I probably should have said."

"Oh. Right. Well, then, do forgive me, please. I had no idea of what you were really trying to say. I thought you were merely being a fool and stating the obvious."

Ouch. From sarcasm to insults. _Great way to show your princesshood, Nina. You're real proper. Oh well._ "Yeah, whatever, Nina. Anyways, King, I have a question for you---"

"Hold it," he interrupted, his mouth full of toast. "Don't call me King, Ryu. I hate it when people do that in my own castle. It's casual here. No need for formalities. Just call me Harold."

"Oh. Um, okay. Well, then, Harold, I have a question for you. You know that town you were talking about yesterday? Capitan?"

"Yes. I do remember that place."

"Well, here's the thing. I was thinking about it last night, and I though, is that the only place that the thief could have gone to? Or is there someplace else?"

"Sadly, it isn't, to be perfectly honest. There is the entire west side of the globe that the thief could easily access through a ship. Capitan is a port town (sort of) and has a ship service running constantly. I'm not going to say for sure that she did indeed go on a ship, for, as I said yesterday night, Capitan would be a really good place for her to go and lay low for a while. And over on the other side, so far as I know, there is a frog kingdom, Simafort, and a witch's tower. And those frogs don't take too kindly to humans, from what I've heard. Very tight knit group over there. And as for the witch…eh, she's crazy. No person ever goes into her domain without a very good reason. So, unless our thief is related to or has business to conduct with Nimufu, which is highly unlikely, my guess is that she went to and remained in Capitan."

"Ah. All right, then. Well, I shall go see that place first, then, I guess. And if that doesn't work, I'll just go across the sea and check out that Simafort place, and try my luck there. Thanks a lot, Harold." Man, that sounded weird.

"Not a problem, Ryu. Now eat up. You have a long journey ahead of you."

"That's an understatement, Harold," I said, just before diving hungrily into my eggs.

------------------------

"Well, Mina," I said afterwards as I was packing, "your father certainly knows how to make a good breakfast. That was the finest meal I have had in ages."

She smiled, but shook her head. "Well, I thank you for your courtesy, Ryu, but actually my father has never had to cook for himself in his life. I mean, I hate to sound arrogant, but we are royalty, after all. We do have several servants employed here, including, I believe, three or four top quality cooks. So none of us, not even Mother, have to cook. Though, occasionally, her, Nina, and I will assist the cooks. Father never does anything, though."

"Of course. Kings and queens always have servants to cook and clean and what not. I don't know what I was thinking. So sorry."

"Don't be, Ryu. It's not a problem whatsoever."

"That's good." I sighed deeply. "Well, I hate to leave you all like this so soon, Mina, but that's the way these things go sometimes. I have a feeling if I remain here any longer, I'll never want to leave."

She nodded. "I understand. Your friendship with Bow is very important to you. And so is the quest you are on right now." She sighed as well, though with a more wistful feeling to it. "I only wish that I could accompany you. The palace is so boring sometimes. I hate to say it, but yesterday was the first time I've felt alive in years."

I raised my eyebrows. She noted this and quickly said, "Oh, don't think I enjoyed being kidnapped by those ruffians. Ladon no. It was just the feeling of excitement, of being out there in the open, walking through the fields, being able to smell all those fragrances nature provides us with. Of course, I didn't enjoy the way I was able to experience these things, tied up and being carried by three very unruly creatures, not one bit, but I digress. All I really want is a chance to explore the world, spread my wings, see things I've never seen before. Mother and Father always have grand stories to tell, about the adventures they used to have in their heyday, and even Nina gets to travel some. Sure, it's just to Hometown, and it's just for school, but still, all the same, I would love to have the chance to do that for a day or week."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said. "It used to be that way with me back in Gate, my real hometown. I mean, it was boring as hell in that place. There were about 10 people in the entire place, and all but two of them pretty much hated me. So, naturally, when eighty percent of a town hates you, you want to get away as fast as you can. And I did. Or at least, I tried. And so every day for two straight years, I would walk over to the guard standing at the entrance of the town and ask permission to leave. And he never allowed me out. He always said, and I have this quote etched in my brain, that it was "too dangerous for little kids without any knowledge of combat" to go outside the town. And as soon as he said that, he would give me a boot in the rear and sometimes a smack on the head, and tell me to get on home. And I would go, and the next day, I would go back, and the cycle would repeat itself. Of course, I could have left at night, because he was gone then, but even I did not want to tempt fate by going out on the grasslands alone at night. And so, two years passed by, approximately, from the time I first asked him to the time I was finally able to leave."

"I see," Mina replied. "Did the guard die or something?"

"Oh, it was nothing like that. Actually, I did end up leaving when it was night. See, this thing was, one day, I was in the mountains at the back of the village with my father and sister. And they go and leave me behind. And all of a sudden, I got really tired, and took a nap right there in the grass. When I woke up and went back to the village, it seemed different. I talked to two women whom I had known, and they acted as if they had never seen me before. So, I went over to the church to see if my father knew what was going on, and he wasn't there. There was some old hunchback instead. But still, he was nice, and he let me stay in the upstairs bedroom, because he thought me to be an orphan. So I went up there, and I met who is now my best buddy, Bow Recondall. He was a thief at the time, and as soon as he figured out the church had nothing to steal, he started to leave. I got up and asked to go with him, and he said sure. So we left the village together, and since it was night, there was no guards anywhere. We wound up in this dark little cave, and that's where we met this hideous demon that nearly killed us both. And after that, after I woke up from the coma the creature put me in, I never saw Gate again."

Mina was silent for a few moments, soaking in everything I had just told her. I had to admit, it was quite a bit to handle at once.

"Listen, Mina," I said. "Don't worry about what I just said. That's all in the past now. It doesn't affect me like it used to to talk about it."

She nodded slightly. "All right, Ryu. Whatever you say."

"Thank you. Anyways, the point of that entire, surely boring-as-hell speech of mine was to just show my agreement with you. I, too, once wanted to spread my wings and fly high into the sky, where there is nothing around me to hold me back. And I still do. It's just that, unlike you, I have been able to do that a little already, so my zeal for doing so has tapered off somewhat. But still, there's always room to have more freedoms. And you shall get your opportunity soon. Don't worry about it."

She smiled up at me, pushing back a strand of blue hair from her face as she did so. "Thank you very much, Ryu. That makes me feel much better about this whole thing."

"Don't mention it, Mina. And if you don't mind, I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"It's just a little thing, probably, but I'm curious just the same. Why aren't you taking magic classes along with Nina?"

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, to tell you the truth, it's really embarrassing for me to talk about it; plus, when I tell it, it kind of sounds like I'm ragging on Nina. So I don't like to talk about it much."

"Oh, come on," I coaxed. "Who would I tell? Katt? Bow? Would they even want to know? Would I tell them even if they did? No way. I can keep a story to myself."

She sighed. "All right. Now let's see, how did it go…

---------------------------

It was the evening of November 25, the date of the annual Thanksgiving Ball. I was ten at the time, meaning it took place about seven years ago—maybe eight; I'm not too sure anymore. My wings had just begun to sprout, a sign of my entry into the phase known as puberty (yes, puberty comes early for us Windians; don't ask why, please), and Mother and Father had been talking during the past week about what they were going to do with me. I knew this because I had been listening at their door. It is part of royal Windian tradition to send the eldest daughter, when she's about 15 or so, to a magic school somewhere in the world. Now, bear in mind, there are indeed more magic schools in the world than besides the one in Hometown. In fact, there's one here, right in the castle. But Hometown's is the one with the most prestige, so generally, all the royal first born girls have gone there. And when they go, they stay there for years at a time. And as for the second borns, like me…well there's not a whole lot for them to do. Which is why they were discussing things.

However, in our case, it was somewhat different. Nina was the first born, yes, but she was also born with black wings (well, of course, she wasn't born with them grown out already; she had to wait ten years to find out their color, the same as me and everyone else). Anyways, it had long been prophesied that one with black wings born to the royal family would spell doom upon the city. Everyone in the city, in case you haven't noticed, has white wings. They are the everpresent symbol of our purity and goodness.

So, naturally, when Nina's tenth birthday arrived and her wings began to grow, and their black color was revealed to all, my parents grew quite nervous. They loved Nina with all their hearts, but they didn't want to risk the devastation of an entire kingdom just because they couldn't afford to "lose" their child. And when I say lose, I don't mean kill or anything horrid like that; I just mean to move away from.

Now, over on Mother's side of the family, there's some kooky old grandma of mine. And that grandma is one of those prophesiers of doom. And as soon as she heard about Nina's black wings, she immediately went on a city wide crusade against her. She even threatened to disown Mother if she didn't sacrifice or kill Nina in some way. Of course, Mother refused, and my grandma was thrown in prison on charges of instigating a revolt against the kingdom. Stupid charges, I know, but still, it got her put away, and she's been down in the basement ever since. She actually still tells all those who pass by of the legendary destruction at hand for Windia. She scares some newcomers, but that's about it. Almost everyone else had heard all the things about her and knows she's crazy. We actually passed her in her cell while we were coming up last night. Thankfully, though, she was asleep, for if she had been awake, she would have kicked up dickens seeing Nina and I strolling casually through the dungeon. Probably would have started yelling that Nina was freeing all the prisoners so that she could have an army with which to destroy Windia, or some crazy cock-and-bull story like that.

Anyways, even though my grandma was locked up and her voice silenced, her speech had still affected the population. People began to wonder about the whole thing. No one actually dared confront Mother or Father about the matter, but they still talked behind their backs, in the pub, in the shops, in the hotel, wherever they could. Always the same thing, day in, day out: Will Nina destroy the kingdom? Should they get rid of her? Is there any other way? It got to be both incredibly depressing and frustrating at the same time to hear my sister being discussed in such manners.

So after months of hearing that stuff, hearing it every day, everywhere I went, I began to be slightly crazy; not really, but just tired of hearing it. I went directly to Mother and Father and asked them what the situation was and what their solution to it was going to be. They didn't want to discuss it at first, but then Nina herself came in the room and said that she too wanted to know. Well, they couldn't refuse us both like that, so they eventually told us what they wanted to do, just as bluntly as possible: send Nina away.

I was in shock, I was furious, I was scared, I was confused. I didn't know what to do, so I think I just cried, and so did Nina. We just sat down on the floor and started bawling. And Mother and Father tried to comfort us, saying everything would be okay, but we didn't listen. We probably cried for about ten minutes straight.

Finally, we stopped crying and started pressing them for details. Where to? When? For how long? For what?

Eventually, they answered all our questions. Nina would be going to Hometown, a small city south of us. There, she would attend the prestigious Magic School, home of the most elite magicians in the world. She would not stay there an entire year. They had set up a deal with Yoji, the headmaster, so that anytime Nina wished to, she could return home, provided she did not stay gone longer than two weeks at a time. The reason they gave us for Nina's having to leave was so that she could become a learned magician ahead of schedule (as I mentioned, generally, the first borns are sent around age 15). We both knew it was untrue, though; we knew the real reason was because of Nina's wings. Even though the people of the kingdom didn't express their opinions on the matter publicly, we all knew that they thought very little of the entire mess. If Nina stayed, she would be in danger of being harmed or abused in some way by the crazies of this town. Even though we knew this, we kept our mouths shut; since all four of us knew the real reason, there was no need to correct my parents.

After they finished telling us everything, we were, in a word, drained. It is an incredible experience to go from knowing someone will always be by your side to finding out that person has to leave in the span of two minutes. I was, of course, immensely saddened by the news of Nina's imminent departure, and, during the next few days, I begged my parents several times to think of another way. They did attempt to, too, but there was no other option; nothing else would have worked. With Nina in Hometown, the kingdom was safe. So, even though I despised them at that time for doing that, I still understood.

And so, eventually the day came for Nina to leave. She did so quietly, gracefully, full of calm and composure. I was not so formal that day. I clung to her, begged, screamed, cried, threw tantrums, anything to get someone to listen to me…and nothing. She left, accompanied by two of the best Windian winged guards on staff. Just before she left, she gave me a great big hug and told me to look after Mother and Father. I told her that yes, of course I would. She let go after a good fifteen seconds, and then departed out the door. It would be two months before I saw her again.

So, I was left, alone and bored, forced to attend stupid conventions like the Thanksgiving Ball by myself. I remember being there, and seeing all these people around me that I had never seen before, all of them coming up to me and congratulating me and all that for reaching my stage of puberty. I longed for Nina to talk to. Life simply wasn't much fun anymore.

Anyways, there I was, being bored out of my mind. And all of a sudden, I hear my name called by a voice that sounds exactly like my father's. I look around, and I see him standing near the head table, gesturing for me to come down. Everybody is looking at me by now, standing, staring intently. I felt scared, but I still managed to make my way down the center of the hall and stand next to my father.

"Mina!" he boomed. The crowd craned its collective neck to try to get a better look at me; I was even shorter back then. "Mina, my dear," he continued, "I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but your Mother and I have thought of an exciting new option for you. I know that you were greatly disappointed that Nina got to leave and you weren't able to go with her. So here's our proposal: you do a magic test, right now, here, in front of everyone. If you can pass successfully, wonderful. You'll be taken tomorrow to the Magic School of Hometown and there meet up with your sister. Doesn't that sound marvelous?" He beamed down at me.

"Father," I said softly. "What if I don't pass successfully? What if I fail?"

He stared down at me, his frozen grin starting to evaporate. He held up his hands for total silence (there already had been, though), then knelt down on one knee to tell me privately.  
"Mina," he whispered. "If you fail, nothing bad will happen. You will just stay home with your Mother and I. That's all. And you will still be able to visit with Nina whenever she comes back. So, don't feel ashamed if you don't display any powers. But just try, okay? This is a special exception for you, since you miss your sister so much; no other second-born in Windia's royal history has been offered this chance. So you see, it's for your sake, dear, not mine." He then stood up, ruffling my hair as he did so.

"And now," he announced. "The test shall commence now. Please, everyone in attendance, keep perfectly silent.

"Mina, I wish for you to do one simple task: produce a flame. That's it. It's probably the simplest task a magician can be asked to do." He stopped there. No encouraging words or anything. He just expected me to do it, right there, in front of dozens of people.

_But, I'm not a magician, Father_, I thought to myself; I dared not say that aloud. My father would have been embarrassed to death, and if there is one thing I hate to do, it's to make my father look bad in front of his subjects.

I took a deep gulp. A flame. Easy enough, even for a person like me, a girl who had never done anything even remotely magically inclined in her life.

I stood there for a minute or two, thinking. _How does one go about making a flame from their bare hands anyways? It's impossible. Can't be done without proper experience. I must give up…but no. I cannot disappoint Father. I must try, at least._

I proceeded then to put on a big show; I waved my hands around, coughed loudly, snapped my fingers. I even tried several incantations. "Flame, out!" "Come, flame!" "I call upon the power of fire!" And a whole bunch of other junk. I was just babbling, basically, trying to make it appear that I had at least an inkling of how to produce a flame.

There I was, acting like a mad woman, uttering crazy phrases, my hands flying around everywhere. I was the very picture of the incompetent amateur. I'm sure everyone in attendance, even Father, was thoroughly convinced I was a lunatic.

Finally, after about two minutes of putting up with my nuttiness, my father came and put his hands on my shoulders. I immediately ceased my motions, and waited to hear what he had to say.

"Well, all of you…I hope you were able to see that show put on by my daughter Mina here. Let's give her a hand for at least trying her best." He took his hands off me and began to clap them together, slowly, powerfully, the bangs echoing all over the room. Soon, everyone in the room was doing the same. I was pleased they were nice enough to do such a thing; anyone could have told you my performance had been terrible, and the only things I should have been receiving were boos. But, they were being very kind about it all, and I was grateful to them for that.

So that was it. I had a chance to go to the Magic School with my sis, and I blew it. Big time, too, and in front of a sizeable crowd. That always makes it ten times worse. I was, naturally, quite depressed after that. After the applause was over, I slipped away and went to my room. I think I stayed there the rest of the night.

You have to understand, Ryu, Nina and I were tight as could be growing up. All those stories you might read about the princesses who have it out for each other…totally false in this case. We were about as best friends as sisters could get. Which is why it was so terrible for me when she was sent away. I mean, that tore my heart up; just absolutely ripped it apart. It was necessary, I knew, and she would have had to go anyways, whether or not she had black wings. And then, the one chance I have to alleviate the situation, BAM! I mess it up. Now, I wouldn't ever have a chance to see her again, except for two-week time intervals every few months, and that was hardly enough. So, my staying in my room was just a little demonstration of how much the situation meant to me.

The next day came, and I left my room to consult with Dad. I found him, asked him what I was to do since I had failed the test. He looked me square in the eye and said he had no idea. He wanted me to stay in Windia, really, and that's about it. I had free reign to go after whatever career I wanted. I could have been anything.

But I didn't become anything. For the past seven (or is it eight?) years, I have been wasting my life away, living in this castle of mine, doing absolutely nothing useful with my life. It was boring to be here, all alone, with no playmates, so I used to sneak off all the time and wander the countryside. Eventually, my parents found out, and they forbid me to do that anymore. Of course, I still did; only I did so more surreptiously than before. And this time, today, that I snuck out, of course, I got into trouble with the Joker gang. So, I have a feeling I might once again stop going on midnight strolls for a while.

And there you have it: the real reason I am not taking classes with Nina. I hope that answered your question nicely, Ryu.

--------------------------

"Oh, it did. Perfectly so. That was a great story, Mina. You have a good ability to tell anecdotes like that once. Very descriptive; I liked that."

"Oh…thank you, Ryu," she said, blushing. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I wasn't aiming to make it good; that's actually the first time I've shared that particular story with anyone."

"Well, that just makes it better."

"Really?"

"Definitely. That was one of the best recounts I have ever heard. Be proud of yourself for being able to tell such a tale."

"Wow. I never expected you to like it that much. Thank you very much, Ryu."

"You are very welcome, Mina. And now, I must prepare for departure. I thank you graciously for your hospitality." I took her hand and gave it a kiss. "I might just return; I'm not sure. It depends on how long this quest will take, I suppose, and just where it ends up leading me to."

"Oh…..I see." I could tell she was thoroughly disappointed. "Well, I shall see you to the front, I suppose."

"Thank you." I began to walk out, and after a moment, she began to follow me.

We were in my room then, so the entrance to the castle was not that far away. When we arrived, I saw that Katt were already there, twirling her staff around, as well as, to mine and Mina's great surprise, Nina.

"Nina?" Mina asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? Why, what else do you think, dear sister? I am accompanying Ryu and Katt on their great adventure. Katt asked me if I wanted to come along, and I said sure. Of course, I haven't asked Mother or Father yet, and I know that if I do, they'll refuse me the opportunity to go. They'll say that my school is first and foremost above all other things, and that if I go on a journey, it will prevent me from attending school. But, I feel I must go on this trip; so even though I despise being deceptive, I'll go without telling Mother and Father. And don't you tell them either, Mina. This will be our secret. Okay?"

Mina stood there, silent. She was quite angry, I could tell. Once more, Nina would be getting the best of her, at least in terms of being able to travel. And this time, she would be doing it underhandedly, without even telling their parents. I would have been mad as hell too.

Finally, she spoke. "Of course, Nina. I won't ever mention your whereabouts to Mother and Father. You can go to the bank on that. Just…be sure to…enjoy yourself…out there…okay?" Her voice was beginning to break; I feared if this kept up much longer, she would begin crying.

Nina gave a great sigh of relief. Oh, thank Ladon, Mina. I was afraid you were going to say no. I have such a great sister!"

Mina nodded, slowly, deliberately. I could tell she was going to go crazy in just a few seconds, so I moved behind her and put my hands on her shoulders. "Well," I announced. "Mina's not feeling too well, so I'm going to take her to her room. I shall return momentarily. Just don't go anywhere." With that, I took and steered Mina in the opposite direction, down the hallway, to her room.

When we arrived, I sat her down on the bed. She still looked like she was in shock. She wasn't moving much, just staring off into space.

"Mina! Snap out of it!" I shouted. "Listen, don't be bothered by Nina. She's not trying to rub it in, she's just happy. She's not out to purposefully make you feel bad, but you sure seem like it's that way. Just accept it. Your time will come to make your own journey. But for now, you must wait here. It won't be that bad. Something good will happen to you, I just know it. Now, if you want, you can come out and give a proper good-bye to your sister. If not, then don't. I'll do it for you. But I do ask that you do so. You probably won't see her for a long while; I really have no idea how long this journey is going to take. So, please, come out, calmly, please, and say something encouraging to your sis."

She continued to sit there, giving no indication of ever having heard me. I shook my head. "All right, if that's how you want to be, fine. In that case, I bid a fond farewell to you. I hope I shall return soon, along with Nina. Good-bye, Mina." I turned and began to walk towards the door.

Not surprisingly, she suddenly came back to life. Just as I was about to open the door, she flung herself towards me and latched onto my leg.

"All right, all right!" she yelled. "I've changed my mind. Now let me go see my sister!"

"Good girl. Ok, let's go." I shook her off, opened the door up, and she tore through the opening, going as fast as I had ever seen someone go. I laughed, turned, closed the door, and began to follow her back to the entrance.

By the time I got there, Nina and Mina were still hugging each other. Mina had been right; they really did love each other a lot.

I slid over next to Katt. "So, I take it Mina's all better now?" she asked me, with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Heh. Yeah. One could say that."

"What'd you say to her?"

"Oh, I just played the guilt game. Told her that Nina wasn't trying to egg her on or boast or anything, and she was just happy about her good fortune. Then I said she wasn't going to see Nina for a while, and that this would be the last chance to say something to her for sometime. And I started to leave, and she just leaps out at me like some crazed woman and grabs ahold of my leg, screaming that she would do it after all. So I opened the door, and she just zoomed right through it."

"Yeah, she came in here super fast. I was talking with Nina, and then BOOM! She's being bear-hugged by her sister, just like that. It's touching, really. Seeing such a strong bond between two sisters. I never had any siblings, so I had no one to bond with."

"I hear you. My only sibling was a little sister, and did she ever get annoying at times. But still, she was too young for us to really bond. She was three years younger than me, and all she ever did was play with this huge dragon in the back of the town. So, I was pretty much alone for the time I lived in Gate, up until the night I met Bow."

"Ah. Interesting."

"What is?"

"The fact that you were a loner for most of your childhood. Explains a lot about how you are."

"I guess so. Most people I tell seem to think so as well."

"I would think so." She turned and looked at the sisters, who were still embracing. "Think we should do something about this?"

"Nah. Let's just wait it out. They can't take too much longer."

"Nope."

We stood there in silence for about a minute, waiting, just waiting, for Nina and Mina to separate. When they finally did, both their faces were streaked with tears. I sighed. Women always got so emotional. I had shed nary a tear when I had been separated from my family all those years back. Of course, I was weird like that, so I didn't blame the two for getting all worked up.

I walked over to them and put my hands around their shoulders. "Well, now that the world's longest hug is over, might I suggest, Nina, that we leave soon? We have no time to waste; who knows where that thief could be by now?"

She gave a great sniffle. "Yeah, sorry about that, Ryu. I know how important this mission is to you, but I just couldn't leave Mina behind without a proper good-bye."

"I understand completely. Don't think I'm angry; because I'm not, in any way. It's just, we're pressed for time, you see. You understand as well, right Mina?"

"Completely. And thanks, Ryu, for giving me this last chance to say good-bye. I really do appreciate it a lot." She gave me a quick kiss, and then sighed. "I don't know what was wrong with me back there. I was just…angry. Furious again at the fact that Nina was leaving without me. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I'm just very emotional, that's all.

So, now, Ryu, I bid you farewell. And you too, Katt. And of course, you, dear sister. I must go now to my room, and think on life. Good-bye, everyone."

"Good-bye, Mina," we said in unision, Nina's voice distinctive among us due to its sad quality.

Once she had departed, we all looked at each other. Nina still was in tears, somewhat, but both Katt and I were pretty stoic. I stood there, listening to Nina, until I finally said "Okay, I guess that wraps that up. Now, are we all ready to go? Katt? Nina?"

"I am, Ryu," Katt said. "All my stuff's right here."

I looked down. I saw nothing on the floor; just her staff in her hand that she was once more twirling about. "That's it? Just your weapon?"

"Yep." She pointed at me. "You have everything else I need. Money, food, clothes, and what not. I don't know about Nina, though." She turned to her. "You have anything to bring, Nina?"

"Just my ring. And I have that on. So, no, really. My clothes are already packed in Ryu's bag, and that's really all else I need."

"Ok then," I said. "That's great. Then are we finally ready to leave?"

They both nodded. "Whew," I said. "I thought for a sec you were say there was something ELSE you needed to do. But, I guess not. So, let's go!"


	11. Sten

Author's Note

I do sincerely apologize for not having updated this story, at least, with new chapters, in a couple of months. I blame it on school for the most part, but part of the problem has been me. I've been both extremely busy and lazy these last two months, and the result of that was that not much writing got done. But now, finally, Chapter 11 is up, and hopefully, there won't be such a big gap between 11 and 12 as there was between 10 and 11. However, school's starting back up again, so you never know.

Enjoy the chapter.

Sten

As we walked through the huge, wooden, double doors of the castle entrance and into the town proper, I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I was finally out of there, after having been forced to spend an excruciatingly long time watching a mere good-bye scene take place. I mean, they're touching and all, and I can't really say anything bad about them, but when time's a ticking and the clock's a running on you, you have to learn to cut short certain practices.

Ah, well. It could have been worse, I suppose. They could have gone on hugging each other forever, perhaps; or maybe, Mina would have decided to come along with us (not that that would have been too bad, but I've learned that siblings, no matter how close, cannot travel on long journeys easily together); or even, Nina would have been so overcome by her leaving her sister that she would have quit the journey, and stayed behind, and that would have made me very unhappy indeed. So, I suppose witnessing a hugging scene, even one as long as that one, pales next to any of the three options I presented.

When we arrived outside, I perceived a large group of people, growing ever larger by the second, crowded around the center of the town. Hmm. Something interesting was going on over there; I could hear their "oohs" and "aahs" quite clearly from where I was.

I turned around to face my little group. "What say we go check out what's happening over there?" I asked them.

Nina merely shrugged. "I'm sure it's not that great. People here are easily entertained. From the sounds of it, it appears to be some common magician working some simple trickery. Nothing great in the slightest. But then again, I've seen plenty of them before, so maybe I'm being a little too judgmental. If you want to watch, Ryu, be my guest. That way, I can laugh at you when he fools you, which he undoubtedly will, unskilled though he may be."

"Oh, gee, thanks a lot, Nina." I gave her a half-serious glare, to which she responded by flashing me an innocent smile. I shook my head at her; when would she learn to grow up? "And what about you, Katt? Care to join me?"

"Well, you know me, Ryu. If there's any hint of magic around, I'm there. So, Nina, you can stay right here. Ryu and I will go check it out."

"You do that," Nina said with a bored tone.

I, with Katt tagging along, made my way down the steps and joined the general crowd. I still couldn't make out whom they were goggling, but I figured I would find out soon enough.

And I certainly did. As I tried to elbow my way through to the front, some creature that resembled a monkey popped up in front my face so fast I nearly fell to the ground. Before I landed, though, he shot out a lightning-quick arm to grab me.

As I felt myself being lifted up, I took the time to stare at my helper. He was fairly short, about half my height, and covered in short, light brown fur. That was the only normal, monkey-ish part about him, though. He was garishly appareled, with a red, crownish-looking hat on his head; a bright green vest that left the bottom half of his torso exposed; white pants that were bunched up to his knees; several bracelets adorning each wrist, each heavily bejeweled; a plethora of gold earrings hanging from each ear; a pair of black gloves with the fingertips cut off; and several rings on each hand, varying in appearance from just plain silver and gold to being inscribed with strange symbols and indentations. Evidently, this monkey was the person that the crowd had been amazed by, if not only by his appearance, then also by whatever tricks he had up his sleeve.

When I arrived fully back on my feet, the monkey stuck out a hand for me to shake. I took it tentatively, and nearly yelled aloud, but managed to keep it inside, when, rather than giving me a loose handshake as well, he decided to crunch my appendages together painfully.

"Welcome, good sir, to Sten Kammashi's Amazing Magic and Illusion Show!" he said over my muffled shout. "Say, haven't you always wanted to be part of a magic show?" Without waiting for an answer from me, he continued on, the excitement growing steadily in his voice. "Of course you have! Now, come with me, laddie, and enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime chance of being one of my subjects for a demonstration. It shall be something you tell your grandchildren when you're old and withered! Now, come!"

I had no choice but to go. His steely hand was now clamped onto my upper arm, and try as I might, I could not unloosen myself from his grip. We made our way into the center of the crowd this way, at which point he let go of me and turned to speak to the crowd. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that Nina and Katt were both approaching the throng.

"Good people of Windia! I have great news! This man here has agreed to be part of my magical demonstration. Let's all give a hand to…" He turned to me. "What's your name, dude?" he asked quietly.

"Ryu," I answered. No need to tell this guy my last name.

"Right," he said. Spinning around so that he faced the crowd once more, he amped up his volume significantly so that everyone could hear. "This is Ryu, everyone! Give him a big hand for being so brave!"

_So easily coerced, more like_, I thought, somewhat angrily, as the crowd gave me a huge ovation. _Surprising. What have I done to deserve this? Nothing. Being brave (at least, not in this sense) is not something to go wild over. __I can't believe they're actually following that monkey's command. You're only supposed to clap when someone accomplishes something noteworthy. Idiots._

"Now," he continued. "We shall begin the demonstration." He paused dramatically, and took a deep breath. "Ryu, are you ready?"

"Yeah." _How hard could it be? It's just a stupid magic show. _

"Then get ready…to experience the feeling…of being transported to another world."

_HUH?_ I looked at Sten with my mouth hanging open, who merely gave me a half-assed grin, as the crowd began talking excitedly amongst itself.

"What the hell do you mean by that, Sten?" I whispered furiously. "Another world? The hell is up with that? There's no such thing! You're crazy if you think so!"

"Haha. Nope. Trust me, Ryu, there is such a thing. And I have the power to transport people to it. Don't tell me you're getting scared now," he said mockingly.

"Screw you, man! No way am I getting scared; it's just that, the whole thing is im-freaking-possible! People just don't get transported to other worlds, because there are no other worlds!"

"I say, Ryu, if you don't calm down, you're likely to die of stress at an early age."

Contrary to his advice, my anger was only on the increase. I was seething now, as mad as I had ever been. That stupid monkey kept avoiding my questions about his so-called ability, leading me to believe he was indeed, without a shadow of a doubt, either evil or a fake. Either one was not a trait you want a magician to have, especially one that's set to operate on you. There was no way I was going to let him do anything to me.

He continued, determined to convince me to let him do his crazy stuff to me. "Ryu, my boy, I specialize in transporting people. It's been my signature act for years! I'm the only magician who's ever even come close to perfecting it. Now come on. The crowd wants you to do it. I want you to do it. You'll be letting us all down if you don't."

"Oh really?" I asked. I was still mad as hell, but I felt just a tad bit subdued now. There was a small chance that I would acquiesce with the monkey's wishes. "And why would that be?"

"Why would that be? Why do you think that would be? The people have come here to see a top-notch magician working his best for them. So far, they've gotten that, of course, for I always deliver. But now the time has come for me to unveil my trademark move. And if I can't deliver that, I will be crushed. They won't be, since they don't know about it, but it will still be a big blow to me, since I've done it at every show I've done for years. So, please, Ryu, do this for me. I don't know who you are, nor do I particularly care, but still, in this moment, let us be partners. I promise, no harm will be done to you. Now, come on. All you have to do is step in the box. You'll be in and out. Not a thing to it."

"Hmmm…I don't know. Like you said, we don't know each other. What if you're one of those crazy killer magicians who lure their victims into stuff like this and then execute them in horrible ways? HUH?" I finished this question with a fierce glare in my eyes.

He paused, then gave me a weird look. "Uh, rigggggght. I think you read way too many bad detective stories, Ryu. I suggest you lay off them. Listen, I'm not a freaking killer magician. I'm just a normal, albeit fairly talented, guy trying to make my way in the world. Can you not see that or what?"

"Yeah, well, it's just that I'm a little cautious. I've had a couple of near-death experiences doing new stuff before, albeit not at the hands of magicians, and they made me nervous about experiencing new things. So I can't be blamed."

"No one's blaming you for anything, Ryu. So just chill. Now, I can only say sorry about your bad experiences with new experiences, because this is probably a new thing to you. Now, if you don't think you can take it, you don't have to get in if you don't want to. I'll pick another person from the crowd. You can stick and watch if you want, but you will not be asked to participate again. Now, what do you say? Are you in or out?"

I thought for a few seconds. If I went in, something bad might or might not happen to me. Sten had said nothing would happen, but I had no solid evidence to believe him by. After all, many killers lure their victims into their clutches with sweet talk.

But…I had to try. I had nothing to lose, really, even my life. If he tried anything funny, I would just do some fancy sword work, and that would be the end of him. And it might even turn out to be fun.

I nodded at him. "All right, Sten. I'll do it."

He clasped his hands together, setting his jewelry to dangling like mad. "That's great, Ryu. Now, just step over here and we'll get going." He walked over so that he stood next to a small box lying on the grass.

As I, too began to walk over, I heard him revert his voice back to its shouting form. "ALL RIGHT, PEOPLE!" he yelled, making sure everyone could hear. Everyone snapped to attention; they had all been muttering amongst themselves while Sten and I had been speaking. "I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT SLIGHT DELAY! MY PARTNER HERE NEARLY- Er, never mind," he finished lamely, having caught an angry look from me, and the crowd laughed heartily. I continued to direct this gaze at him until he began talking again. "ANYWAYS, PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE MAN HERE WITH BLUE HAIR! FOR MY FINAL ACT, I AM GOING TO TRANSPORT HIM FROM THAT BOX ON THE GRASS INTO…A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD!" Predictably, gasps rose from every corner of the audience, even though they had already heard the same thing not five minutes earlier. As I looked over to where my friends stood, I could see Nina slowly shaking her head.

"AND NOW, RYU! PLEASE, STEP FORWARD! THE PRESENTATION IS READY TO BEGIN!"

I walked the short distance from where I had been to where he stood. He gestured for me to climb into the box, which I did. I remained standing, though, as he continued his speech, not ready to go down just yet.

"IN JUST A FEW SECONDS, RYU HERE SHALL BE CONVEYED TO A DIFFERENT WORLD. ONLY I HAVE THE POWER TO BRING HIM BACK. BUT DO NOT FEAR…I SHALL BE SURE TO BRING HIM BACK UNHARMED."

_Unharmed?_ That didn't sound too good. That meant there was at least a slight chance of injury happening while I was away. That stupid Sten had failed to mention that until right then. I just knew he would pull something like that. I'd have to deal with him later on that.

"SO, IF YOU WOULD PLEASE, RYU, CROUCH DOWN INTO THAT BOX." I did so, going so low so as to not allow of my hair to be showing. "NOW, ONCE I CLOSE THE LID, AWAY HE GOES! HE SHALL BE RETURNED MOMENTARILY, SO PLEASE STICK AROUND."

He turned around so that he faced me. "Ready, Ryu?" I gave him a slight nod. "Great." He reached over me, and as I looked up, I saw him shut the lid down on me, and I felt myself being sucked down into the earth. Evidently, I was going to that alternate world he had been yelling about. Naturally, I freaked out.

I was still yelling my head off when I landed with a loud thump on the ground. But I had no idea where I was. It was complete darkness all around me. Not a single bit of light shone in from anywhere.

I sat up, saw nothing of interest (nothing at all, actually), and sighed. I hated being alone in dark places. Always brought me back to my creepy dream that one fateful night. As much I liked the end results of that night, what with me escaping Gate and all, the dream still held a powerful grip on me. _I wonder what would have happened if that eye had never spoken to me. Would I be here, now, sitting in a tiny box, waiting to be transported to another world by a slightly crazy magician? Probably not. No, I would likely be back in Gate still, still bored out of mind, still with nothing to do. Probably still wouldn't even be allowed to leave the village alone. _

_So was it for the best that that evil eye contacted me? For now, it seems it has been. I've met my best friend, escaped Gate, had a fairly boring-but-still-somewhat fun life in Hometown, met some great people, including two potential girlfriends, fought two awesome fights, and a whole bunch of other garbage. I just hope that the rest of my life will benefit so much from that eye. Doubtful, but at least I can dream. _

Dammit, what's taking that stupid monkey so long? Oh, damn, I forgot He didn't give me a time limit. I could be down here forever! Holy crap! This is worse than I thought!

I stood up and began jumping. "Hey!" I yelled. "Sten, you bastard, get me the hell out of here. The show is over, the people have seen your trick. NOW LET ME OUT OF HERE!" There was nothing but silence that answered me.

_Great. No word from the guy who put me down here, plus it's pitch black. And this time, I don't have a candle. I swear, I'm going to kill that dude when I get out of here. Tricking me like this. DAMMIT! What in Ladon's name is he doing?_

_----------------------------_

Well, I had done it. I had gotten that Ryu sap away from me, and thus away from those pretty companions of his, leaving me free access to them. Heheheh.

I began to walk over to where the two stood, making sure to give off an air of sadness. After all, I would, in a few moments, be setting up a lie, one in which my little blue-haired acquaintance had met an untimely death. Hopefully, his friends would believe me. I figured they probably would; they looked kind of weak-minded, especially that winged one. But I don't really care about a girl's intelligence; I leave that to the scholars. As for me, Sten Kammashi, I only care about their bodies. Call me shallow, sick, immoral, whatever; I don't care. That's just the way I've always rolled.

Ryu's red-furred companion looked up as I approached, her gaze narrowing. I had to be careful with her- now that I was up close, she looked like a fairly competent individual. As for the winged one, she was looking around, as if lost in a daze. Evidently, she had never seen a disappearing act before. She would be easy to convince, I thought, of Ryu's tragic death. She floated over to the box, opened it up, and peered in. "Ryuuuuu? You in there? Hurry up and get out of there. We need to go."

"Excuse me, miss," I called out. She hurriedly let go of the lid and whipped around to face me. "I hate to be the one to say this, but I have some fairly bad news for you."

The furry one rushed over, and I noticed with some fear a huge bowstaff she held in her hands that was armed with claws at the tip. Likely she would swing that weapon my way if I failed to convince her of Ryu's demise, and it was also likely it would hurt like mad.

Nina floated to where her friend stood, and remained there. "What do you mean, mister? What's happened to Ryu? Why isn't he back yet?"

"First, let me say this: Call me Sten. Second, like I said, I have bad news. Very bad. As sad as this makes me to say, it seems that Ryu couldn't hack the moving process, and he's d-"

"HOLD IT!" the furred one shouted. She too had been standing still, but now she came unhinged, and began to pace slowly back and forth. "Don't even tell me that Ryu's dead, you hear me? Because I'll know you're lying."

"And how would you know that?" I asked innocently.

"Because Ryu would never get killed by a simple street magician like you. If he can beat back Biribirus without so much as sweating, defeat both me and Baba in single-hand combat, and even survive a demon's attack, he can manage to get through a simple dimensional warp. So," she said dangerously, "if you think you pull the wool over our eyes, go ahead and try. But I warn you, the results won't be pretty."

Okay, now I really was scared; her tone told me she was most definitely not joking. It would be asinine of me to give her my story now. I hated to not do it, especially since the rewards I would get would be those two fine women, but if I were forced to weigh my life and a couple of gals, my life would come in first every time.

But still…it might be worth it just to try it. There was only one way out of the "world" where Ryu was, and it was unlikely he would figure it out anytime soon. If I could convince this girl and the other that I was not faking anything, and that Ryu was really dead, I had a sporting chance. It would be very dangerous, and the rewards weren't worth the risk, but I still had to try. And even if, by some miracle, Ryu managed to find the way out of his little prison, then I would just escape, using my highly honed simian abilities. They would never be able to catch me, not even that flyer.

I took in a huge breath of air, let it out. Here went nothing. "Actually, miss, I'm not lying, believe it or not." A quick glance at her face told me she didn't. I knew I had to press on quickly, or else be attacked. "Some people aren't able to handle having their atoms separated and pulled apart, only to be reorganized later, which is the basic process of transporting them to different worlds. And unfortunately, Ryu just wasn't one of those people. I thought he would be; he looked like a pretty tough guy. I don't know what happened; usually, the more physically strong a person is, the better chance he has of surviving a dimensional warp. It was a crazy twist of fate, is the only thing I can think of. And I am most deeply sorry." I took a deep bow here, lowering my face almost to the ground, praying to Ladon that my ruse worked.

But it didn't, dammit. The girl I had been talking to sprang into my face as soon as I stood back up, her features twisted with rage. "LIAR!" she shouted at me. "I just know you're not telling me the truth. Twist of fate, my ass. I don't know why, but for some sick reason, you're hiding him from us, and I'm going to find him. Nina," she turned her head towards her winged friend. "Keep an eye on this lying bastard for me, will you? I'll be back shortly." With those words, and a final, seething glare towards me, she bounded off.

Ladon. This was not working out at all. Well, I had one option left: Take this girl Nina hostage. If I held her for ransom, maybe…

But no. I just wasn't that way. I might be a slimy, filthy perv, but that doesn't mean I don't have at least some morals. I shouldn't have even been thinking of doing that terrible deed. I sighed deeply. I would have to tell her the truth…Well, not the whole truth. Not the fact that there was no other world, and that where I had sent Ryu was just some random place underground. No, I wouldn't tell her, or anyone else that. That was my little secret. What I would tell her, and what would also be part true, would be that I had put Ryu in a prison, of sorts, and it would be nearly impossible to get him out. She likely wouldn't be too happy, and neither would the other one; I shuddered to think of what she might do to me once she got back.

I walked over to where the winged girl was floating. She looked down at me with a curious expression, and then lowered herself to the ground. "Do you need something, dude?"

I was surprised, to say the least. Here was a Windian, probably one of royalty, to have come from inside the castle, speaking like some street punk. Evidently her parents hadn't done the best of jobs raising her. I frowned slightly; my parents would have never allowed me to speak that way.

_But then, they wouldn't have allowed you to become a womanizer or a con artist, either, eh, Sten?_ my conscience said. _Being a hypocrite again, are we? You should really work on that_.

"Shut up," I whispered fiercely.

"What was that?" Nina asked me.

"Uh, nothing. Listen, I wanted to tell you something."

"What?"

"What actually happened to Ryu."

She nodded. "I figured you would tell me that sooner or later. I could tell what you were feeding Katt back there was a load of BS. So, where is he?"

"Wellll, he actually is in another dimension, believe it or not. But of course, he's not dead. I'm not that bad a magician, you see. But, there's a problem present that doesn't involve his corpse. Rather, it's a matter of getting him back. Interdimensional travel is one of the hardest spells a magician can learn, and though I am the only one in the entire world capable of pulling it off, I still have not completely mastered it. As far as I know, there's only one way of getting him back, and to do so would expend a great deal of my energy. Now, you're a Windian, and thus, I'm going to guess you're a magician. Am I right?"

She nodded. "Hate to sound arrogant, but I'm a pretty good one, too."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Good. That makes this easier. What I'm thinking is, I will harness my power with yours, and together, we can both bring Ryu out of his, shall we call it, prison. Now…?"

A flash of fur had appeared next to me in a split second after I said that Ryu was in a prison. Before my eyes could completely register the fact that it was even there, it materialized into Katt, who was now swinging her staff menancingly.  
"What was that about a prison, Sten? You have Ryu locked up somewhere?"

"Err…" I said, staring hard at her staff. "I was just getting to that, actually, Katt. You see…"

----------------------------

I slid to the ground, exhausted. I had been leaping around for the last five or ten minutes, trying desperately to find something, anything, that would lead me out of this prison of mine. _Sten had better watch himself when I get out of here. It's going to take all of Katt and Nina's power to hold me back. Or maybe they won't even hold me back, and instead let me have my way. That would be nice, but I doubt they'll let me kill Sten, much as I want to. _

I laid my head down on my chest. I hated being down here, in the suffocating darkness, with nothing to do. I couldn't even sleep, for I didn't know what lurked down here.

But…maybe…there had to have been a way out; no matter where a place is, there's always a way to get in and a way to get out. All I would need to do is look.

Of course, I couldn't accomplish crap sitting down, and while I probably couldn't accomplish a whole lot more standing up, it would be good of me to at least try. I stood up slowly, wincing as my body began screaming at me, telling me to sit back down and get some rest. I ignored its pleas and began walking around, my arm stuck out in front of me, trying to find a wall or something that might lead me out of there.

I walked that way for about two minutes, and then…there it was. A ladder. In another world? Hmmm…It took me only a few seconds to realize that all the townspeople and I had been duped. Just as I had originally suspected, there was no "other world." That little swindler up there had a trap door or something that dropped whoever was in the box down about 20 feet. And this ladder no doubt led straight back up to the above-world. I threw back my head and laughed. That stupid monkey, thinking he could fool me. Ah, well. At least this gave me an excuse to put a hurting on him. He had made a big mistake lying to me like that, and I fully intended to make him pay for it. I grabbed ahold of the nearest rung and began to climb up.

-----------------------------

"…And that's it, ladies," Sten finished. "I'm afraid that it might be a while before our friend Ryu makes his return to this world. I really am sorry for all the trouble I've caused you. But the only thing we can do now is wait, since the process to get him back out here is just too exhausting." Finished with his little speech, the monkey took a seat in the lawn chair he had set up next to the box. It was obvious he was perfectly willing to wait as long as it took.

However, Katt and Nina were not. "Dude…" Katt said. "Your story's very nice and all, but I'm still not believing it. I believe in Ryu, and I know he can make it out of your little dungeon. However, seeing as how Nina and I have nothing to do currently, we will wait here with you. But if it takes too long, we'll going to look for Ryu. And you're coming. Got that?"

Sten looked up from where he had been twiddling his thumbs. "Oh yeah, I got you, Katt. No prob." And he returned to his task, more intently than before.

Katt sighed deeply. _Hurry up, Ryu. This guy is getting irritating real quick. Plus, we have to go find that thief of ours. If we spend much more time here, she'll be long gone. So let's go._

And sure enough, not five seconds later, a hole appeared in the ground. It was small at first, and she barely even noticed it. But, it grew bigger by a few inches every couple of seconds, and soon, all three of them were staring intently at it, Sten the hardest of all.

However, the hole grew only to about a foot or so across before stopping its growth. And out of that hole popped my head.

"Ouch…" I spluttered, dirt flying out of my mouth as I spoke. I looked up. "Hi, guys. A little help down here would be nice."

They all goggled at me. After a bit, Katt and Nina both turned their heads to stare at Sten, who only held out his hands and grinned foolishly. "What?" he asked. "I thought there was only one way out."

"There was only one way out, Sten. It took me a while to find this ladder. And by the way, it would have been nicer of you to have two trapdoors, one for falling and one for getting out, instead of just one for falling. 'Cause, you know, it kind of hurts the fingers to dig a foot-wide hole in the ground.

"Anyways, I would like to get out of here. So, if you would, Nina, blast this hole a little bigger. Four feet should be good enough; don't want to make too big a hole on the castle lawn. Hang on a sec and let me get down."

I slid down the ladder a good twenty feet or so. No sense being anywhere close to one of Nina's magic blasts. I stared up, then quickly looked back down as a small explosion rocked the earth, and a shower of dirt rained down on me. Again spitting the stray pieces out of my mouth, I climbed back up and onto the surface of the earth.

"Whew!" I said. I was exhausted, covered in soil and sweat from head to foot, and there were quite a few worms crawling around on me too. But that didn't matter: I was out now.

I got up and brushed myself off as best as I could, thanked Nina, and then turned to give Sten an icy glare. He grinned up at me. "What's up, Ryu? You all right?"

I shook my head slowly. "No, Sten, I'm afraid not. You see, you deliberately put me down in that little prison of yours; why, I don't know, but the fact is, you did, when you had already promised not to do anything funny. So, now, I'm going to have to lay a beat down on your ass. Sorry, but that's what you get when you screw around with me. But don't worry," I added, noting he was looking at my sword. "I'm not aiming to kill; just teach a lesson, you know?"

"Well, Ryu, I would love to stick around, but darn if my time here isn't up. Have fun doing whatever you're going to do next. See you lat—hurgh!"

"You know," I told him, as I hung onto his collar. "I figured you were going to try to escape your punishment. But that won't happen. Once you get your beating, you'll be free to go. As a matter of fact…hmmm. Stay here a minute. An idea just occurred to me." I dropped him unceremoniously to the ground, where he commenced cursing and yelling at me. "And don't try to run away, either," I called back. He froze in mid-position of getting up. "I will have my eye on you." I let this threat hang in the air as I turned back around, confident he wouldn't try anything rash.

I walked over to where Katt and Nina stood watching. "Girls," I announced. "I have an idea. And please don't hate me for it."

They both rolled their eyes. "We won't, Ryu. Now what is it?" Katt inquired.

"It's like this. Sten…sure he tricked me into going into a weird-ass place, likely so that he could try to take advantage of you two (and it's a good thing he didn't, or else I really would kill him). But, I feel he could still be useful. Listen!" I said firmly, as both had opened their mouths to protest. "He's a magician; I know, Nina, you are too, but that doesn't change things. Magicians, especially ones as talented as our friend Sten here, are always handy to have in a fight, and from the looks of our quest so far, we are going to be getting into a lot of those. Thus, he will be a great asset to us. One swordsman, one staff wielder, two magicians, and (when they come back), a fighter and a bowman—that's a team few would want to tangle with. So, what do you say? Is Sten with us or not?"

They considered my question together for a while. I could tell Katt really didn't want him coming, but if Nina said yes and she said no, she would have to learn to put up with him. After a few minutes of careful deliberation, they turned to me and said, "He's in, but only on one condition."

"What's that?"

"He keeps his monkey hands to himself."

"That doesn't sound like too harsh a rule to keep. Now, Sten," I asked him, for after turning around, I had discovered he was behind us and listening to our every word.  
"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, Ryu, I heard it." He stood up and glared at me. "I don't like it too much, but if it's what I'm forced to do, I might as well take it compromisingly, right?"

I nodded. "Good," he said. "Glad to see we agree. And Katt and Nina, you have my word of honor I will keep my monkey hands to myself. I might be a womanizer of the worst kind, but I'll make an exception with you two, seeing as how we're going to be travel mates now." They nodded at him. "Okay, then, Ryu. Where we off to? But wait. I haven't even properly apologized to you for tricking you like that." He dropped to one knee, took off his cap, and stared at the ground. "I, Sten Kammashi, am ever so regretful for having put you, Ryu, in another world, without having told you how to get out first. My sincerest apologies, Ryu."

I placed my hand on his shoulder (had to bend down to do so, though, since his shoulder was only about two feet off the ground). "Sten, thank you. That means a lot to me to hear someone apologize after having wronged me. Not many people do it, and it pisses me off to no end when they don't. So, thanks. And I forgive"

He got back to his feet. "No problem, Ryu," he said, adjusting his crown back onto his head.

"Oh, and Sten."

"What?"

"You can forget about that beatdown I told you about earlier. It ain't going to happen."

"I figured so."

"Wasn't ever going to happen, actually. I was just going to scare you, is all."

"I figured that, too. Sometimes threats do work better than the actual actions."

"Yep."

"And another thing."

"What?"

"Stop calling it "another world." I already deduced it wasn't one, so it's kind of pointless to continue that little charade."

He looked crestfallen. "Oh. Well, I figured that you knew, after you mentioned the trap doors. But still…Dammit! Everyone else had been duped by it before. I hate you for that, Ryu. You just spoiled my best act."

"Sorry, Sten."

"It's cool."

We stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Katt stepped in between us. "Well, now that oh-so-sweet apology and whatnot is done, can we get a move on now? I believe, Ryu, we have a thief to catch."

Sten looked up at me with interest in his eyes. "Thief, Ryu? Do I get an explanation? I'm rather interested in such people."

"Yeah, Sten, you will. Later. For now, let's mosey along now. I must say, I'm getting quite tired of this place. Too confining for its own good." Nina nodded several times at this. "So, before I get too hedged in, let's go. We have a thief to catch, after all.


	12. Note to Readers

Author's Note

I am extremely sorry for my lack of updates these past few months. I've been very busy with school, and I had completely forgotten about this project of mine. But, just last night, I was thinking about Breath of Fire, and I remembered this paper. And I decided "Well, shoot, I might as well keep working. I already got over 100 pages on it." So, I shall (attempt) to continue writing this story of mine, and hopefully, it will continue to be well-received. I don't have Chapter 12 quite finished yet, but I have gotten some of it done, so it might be a week or two before it gets done. Thank you all for your patience.


	13. On The Road Again

On The Road Again

The incident with Sten had taken a lot longer than expected, and by the time we were on the road, it was approaching mid-afternoon. I cursed to myself my lack of fortune recently in my travels; it seemed, save for the information given to me by Harold the night before, that I had made no progress in the past week in my search for the thief. But the good thing was, I finally had a lead, and that was enough to make me at least semi-happy. Now, it would be a matter of getting there, which in itself probably wouldn't pose much of a problem. I had heard rumors of the annoyingly strong King Goblins and the incredibly fierce and poisonous Deathpedes that resided in the Windian territory, but I felt confident that my little team could handle them.

As we walked along, I became bored, and so took the time to chat with Sten for a bit. It would be a good way to break the ice, I hoped; I didn't want that magic incident to linger over us the entire trip. "Hey, Sten, my man," I began. "Care to tell me a little of your life story, eh? I figure, since we're going to be working together, we might as well get to know one other, right? So anyways, what gives, man? What's with the magic business? What made you want to enter into what is a highly interesting, but mostly thankless profession?"

"Thankless, eh? Boy, you can say that again." He gave a short bitter laugh, but then was silent for a moment before replying again. "Let's wait until a little later, shall we? And by later, I don't necessarily mean later tonight. Whenever the time comes for me to tell you, I will. It's a long story, and I'd like to focus on the road ahead rather than on my past. Plus, it's a little painful for me to recall; I'm sure you understand."

"Oh. Yeah. Perfectly, Sten." I sighed. "I've had a pretty rugged life myself, and though I don't like to dwell on it a lot, I seem to share it with a number of people."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's the same with me. It hurts sometimes, but other times, it feels good to let out the frustration and the anger that's been built up by years of inner torment. As I said already, I'll be glad to share with you my past, but it's always best to tell a story like that sitting down, when your audience has your full attention. Plus," he added, dropping his voice down low. "I want the girls to hear it too; make them think I'm this great and heroic old steed, you know; make them soften their hearts towards me."  
"Yeah." I smiled. "I get you, Sten."

"I mean, I didn't exactly make a great first impression on them, methinks," he continued. "What with making you disappear, and then lying to them and all. To be perfectly honest, I think that Katt's just waiting for me to slip up again so she can have an opportunity to beat my ass into submission. That girl is scary, man."

"Believe me, I know. Much more than you, I assure you. I've actually tangled with her before, and damn. She is much better at fighting than she looks."

"You've fought her?" He looked incredulous. "Over what?"

"Ah, it wasn't because we were arguing or nothing like that. It was for a fight over at Coursair. I took the place of a fighter named Baba, and she happened to be my opponent. We fought, and she had me beat, but the manager had decided to pull a stunt and make me the winner by poisoning her. But I was able to push her out of the way and take the needles myself."

"Wow." I could tell he was impressed. "That was very nice of you, Ryu. And I'll bet that has made Katt bring on the loving, if you know what I mean."

"Ahh, well…" I hated talking relationships. Even with Bow. I just wasn't good at them. "Well, maybe later, but not now. We're just friends.

He gave me a wink. "Sure, Ryu, whatever you say. And I hate to sound like a dirty old monkey or anything, but that brings up the inevitable question you knew I was going to ask you eventually: Nina or Katt? Which one floats your boat more, Ryu? Who do you got the hots for?"

I sighed again. "I really don't know, man. I've known Katt longer, but just for a few days more, so that doesn't even really matter. And both are two interesting souls, but sort of conflicting. Nina's actually a tomboy, more so than Katt, I would say, which might be hard to believe. And while they're both excellent fighters, Nina seems to be the one who likes to goad people more often. She likes to use trickery and a quick tongue to rile you up. But Katt, surprising as this sounds, is actually usually the more calm of the two. I mean, she will get in your face real quick when she's mad, but on the overall, she's usually more subdued than Nina is.

"But anyways, getting back to the question…I can't say right now. Both of them have their moments, and both of them also have their not-moments. Somethings they do attract me more to them, and other things turn me off. So who knows at this point? All I can say is, by the end of this quest, I'll have a definite answer for you."

He whistled softly. "Damn, Ryu, didn't have to get any technical on me. All I wanted was a one-word answer. But, I guess you can't be satisfied with that. I'll tell you mine: Katt. That is one fine woman. I mean, sure she hates my guts, and probably wants to kill me, but still, I can't help but be mesmerized by her exotic looks. What do you think they are?"

"Well, when I fought her, she was introduced as being from the Woren tribe, so I guess that. Course, that really doesn't explain much, but it's all I know right now."

"Hmmm. Woren, huh. Don't know too much about them. I'll have to research them a little next time we get to a town with a library. And you know, that's a major problem I've been noticing in my travels. No appreciation of literature in any of the towns I've come to. I mean, it's all just buildings, weapons shops, and rich people's houses. It's pretty barbaric, when you think of it. And the whole Coliseum thing over in Coursair…man, where to start on the problems with the place? I was a soldier myself, but that's a totally different thing than fighting for sport and money. Totally different."

"Soldier, eh? Interesting. Can you tell me more about that now, or is that part of the story that is to come?"

"The latter. Sorry, Ryu. Besides, it's not even…well, maybe it is. But it's also humiliating and extremely saddening and even horrifying for me to talk about, much more so than my other "great tale". I mean, what happened in that was just embarrassing; this is something far worse. But, as I said, I will tell you sometime. I promise that."

"All right, Sten. I'll take your word on that."

"Yeah. Anyways, back to Coursair. So that's where you met our feline friend, eh?"

"Yep. Best fighter there was there. Even better than me, and that's saying something, considering I took down a 300-pound axman right before tackling her."

"Well, I guess her being a fighter does help explain her temper. But why oh why did I have to screw up that badly and get that temper turned against me? I mean, why did I have to go and make you disappear, and then make up this cock-and-bull story about you never coming back and all that crap. Ladon, that was dumb of me."

"Not trying to heighten your pain or anything, Sten, but yeah, it was. Sorry. But don't worry; not all is lost. After all, when I first met Katt, she hated me too. She thought I was lying to her and trying to make her drop her guard when I told her that the poison needles were aimed at her. But, she forgave me when it turned out I really was telling the truth."

"Yeah, I know that all hope is not lost just yet. But still, I definitely started off on the wrong foot with her. I mean, I freaking met her today, and she hates me already, and while that's definitely something I will have to remedy in the near future, it's something that she won't forget about, no matter how friendly she might eventually become. Oh, and for the record, make sure to remember this one thing: If by some miracle she does become mine, she'll stay mine. No sharing with you."

"Aww, gee, thanks, Sten. You're such a pal."

"I know."

We walked in comfortable silence for a bit more, listening to Nina and Katt chat about whatever they were chatting about. I took this time to look around and really notice my surroundings. As I did, I noticed far to my right a house, nestled in between two small cliffs. It looked quite out of place, and I made a mental note to come back later and check that place out more carefully.

But other than the house, nothing around seemed odd. In fact, it was all quite beautiful. I had never really paid attention to the outdoors too much until I became a ranger, but that was, like many of my other shortcomings in life, due to having been forced to live in Gate for some number of years. The time I spent there wasn't long, but the aftereffects stayed with me for awhile. Gate wasn't exactly a pretty town, at least not enough to spend time outdoors everyday. And the surrounding area wasn't nice, either. There was a circle of trees surrounding the town, and once you got past those, there was a huge, barren, dusty, bug-filled field. I lived on what you could call a peninsula, I suppose, and was surrounded by water on all sides. Of course, no ships ever came down Gate's direction; we were pretty out of the way, and from what I've heard since leaving there, most people figured us to be crazed devil-worshipping backwards folks, and so they tended to avoid us. So, after a few weeks of going out there and sitting and waiting for the non-existent ships to come, that way they could take me far away, I gave up, and so began to spend most of my time cooped up indoors. Mind you, I wasn't a couch potato—I was still a little kid then, and as such, I was full of energy. Yua wasn't too much fun, but she still kept me running after her all the time, and occasionally I would even play games with her. But, I don't like to talk about her, or Ganer; too painful, even after all these years. I really don't believe a person can ever completely get over losing their family, especially the way I lost mine.

I turned back to Sten. "Say," I began. "Do you know anything about a place called Simafort? Harold mentioned it to me while we were having dinner with him, and I'm curious to know if you, the seasoned world traveler, has ever heard of it."

He walked in silence for a bit, evidently pondering. "Simafort, Simafort…hmmm. If memory serves me, that's the frog kingdom. Out in the middle of a vast lake. Small kingdom, though. Easy to miss. I've heard its prince is a real nut. Jean Jacques something or another. They say he's obsessed with human girls, painting, and cooking; weird combination, don't you think?"

"Yeah. A frog wanting to get it on with our kind? That's pretty sick. No offense intended to you."

"None taken. Personally, I see no problem with me doing it, since we are of the same species: primates. But when you mix amphibians and humans together…" He shook his head slowly and shuddered.

I walked on for a bit, not saying anything. Frogs, huh. So, either my thief had an amphibious acquaintance, or she was just going there for the hell of it. Where was that other place Harold had mentioned? Oh yeah, the witch's tower.

"How about a witch's tower, Sten? Ever heard of that? It's probably near Simafort."

He drew up cold upon hearing this, the blade of grass he had been chewing on fell out of his mouth and blew away into the afternoon air. "W-witch's tower? D-did you just say 'w-witch's t-t-tower?'"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" It was puzzling to see him react so strangely.

"Ehhhhh, sorry Ryu. It's just that…" He looked down quickly, embarrassed.

"What's up, dude? What did you do?"

He looked back up to me, and then cast his eyes back down to earth. "Uhhh, it was just this little, er, incident that I had with the inhabitant of that tower. That is, if the tower you're referring to is the same as I am thinking of."

"All I know is it's pretty close to Simafort, and that the witch's name is Nimufu."

He sucked in a breath of air, and let it out slowly. "Shoot. Nimufu. Yeah, that's her, all right, that bitch."

"Whoa. Such strong language. What happened between you and her? Failed romance?"

He paused. "You…might say that, I suppose."

I raised my eyebrows, silently pressing him for more details.

"All right, all right," he said sheepishly. "It's a pretty short story, but really freaking embarrassing to me. So, if you laugh, you die. Got it?" He fixed me with an evil stare.

I nodded my head. Truth be told, I was actually a little scared of what he could do, so I figured it wouldn't be wise to laugh, no matter how funny the story might be.

He nodded as well. "All right. One day, a few years back, when I wasn't as old and experienced as I am now, I got the notion into my head that Nimufu might be the right girl for me. I mean, I was a budding magician, and I figure magicians and witches might go well together.

"So I get to her tower, and go in. She has this set-up where you have to stand on a metal plate and let her judge you before she lets you in. She has direct access to all parts of her tower from her room, so once you step in there, the system will let her know there's a visitor, and she'll judge you're appearance, basically. See if you meet her standards; if you do, you gain access into her tower. If not…well, let's just say you get an unkind reception out."

"Uh-huh." I could see where this was going, and though it was going to be embarrassing for Sten to tell me, and probably kind of as well for me to hear it, it was too late to stop him now. Besides, it might be worth a good laugh (on the inside, of course).

"There was this huge line there; back then, everybody knew who Nimufu was, and seeing as how she was basically the hottest babe in the whole land, she had quite a lot of guys wanting access to her private chambers.

"So when it gets to be my turn, I step onto the plate and await judgment. And all of a sudden, I heard laughter. Just a little chuckle at first, but then a whole screaming volley came over the intercom system. A witch's laugh.

" 'Ahahahahaha!' " came the noise. Loud, irritating, screeching, grating on the ears, all that. " 'Do my eyes deceive me, or am I actually seeing a monkey wanting admittance into my grand tower? Oh, someone tell me this is a joke! Ahahahahaha!'

"As I was standing there, my cheeks beginning to burn, all the asses there began to guffaw as well. Well, back then, I was quite the hot-headed monkey, and so as soon as I heard these idiots laughing at my expense, I went crazy. I didn't have my knives just yet, so I couldn't use them (and it wouldn't have been really too smart to use them if I had them, anyways). So I just went over to the nearest guy, some big logger dude who was as ugly as anybody I'd ever seen, jumped up onto his shoulders, and just started wailing on him. We monkeys are a lot stronger than we seem, and I was doing some serious damage to this guy.

"Of course, I was quickly subdued. Humans always seem to bond when there is trouble happening to one of them, and a whole bunch of his pals there pried me off. I think I was about to be pummeled myself, and so put my hands up in a defensive position, when suddenly a voice cut through the medley.

" 'Stop!' it cried out. It was commanding, powerful, rich, and above all, feminine. A complete contrast to the voice I had heard earlier, but it was still unmistakably the same. It seemed that Nimufu had actually come down herself to the ground level, which was amazing; she almost never left her room. Much as she had humiliated me, though, I still fervently wished she had come down solely on my behalf.

"Unfortunately, I was more right than I had counted on. She came close to me, and damn it all, she had a mask on. All I could make out were her eyes, brilliant green, and her long, wavy pink hair (yeah, it was pink; I have seen stranger, though). I guess even though she had let herself be seen, she didn't want all these weirdos to see her face until she told them they could. I was sorely disappointed, to say the least.

"By this time, naturally, my heart was going all over the place in my chest, just bouncing like crazy. _Maybe,_ I thought, _she's come to give me a second chance_. _Maybe she'll see how handsome I really am. _

"Fat chance of that happening. I don't know why I thought of it at all; it was a foolish notion. As she was examining me, I began to get more and more apprehensive. What was taking so long? How long could it take to give a guy a once-over? Even a second time. I was about to find out, though.

"She stood up, taking her time. Of course, all the guys there were just about going nuts from her being there, and she knew it. She took her time to turn around, walk a few paces back, and then turn back to face me.

" 'I only came down here for one reason," she announced to the crowd. 'And that was to see if this ape was really as ugly as I saw him to be through the upstairs mirror. And he was.' She giggled wildly, high-pitched and irritating as hell."

Here Sten paused, taking a deep breath. I felt pretty damn awkward at this point, and just continued to walk along in silence. I didn't want to offer Sten any sort of comforting hand just yet; for one thing, the story wasn't done, and two, I didn't know how he would react to it. After a few steps, he let out a huge sigh. "I'm sorry, Ryu. It's just that, that part of the memory is the one I despise the most. I'm sure you can understand why."

"Of course," I offered, a simple response, but at least it wouldn't provoke anything.

"Well, then, let me continue. It's not much more, anyways. So, now that Nimufu had shamed me a second time, this time being all the more hurtful since she did it in person, she had no real reason to be down amongst the mere mortals again. I saw her lift her wand in the air, and thinking it was going to be a spell aimed in my direction, I immediately threw my arms up again. She laughed again. 'Don't worry, silly monkey. I'm not going to harm you. You're nothing to me. I'm only using my wand to transport me back up to my room. But before I go,' and here she raised her voice. 'I command all of you to leave this monkey alone and allow him to leave untouched.'

"I put my arms down then, looking at with mixed suspicion and amazement. Was it possible she was having a change of heart? No, of course not.

"A circle of blue and green stars was beginning to surround her, simulating the beginnings of a warp spell. 'No,' she called out. 'Don't touch. After all, he's already ugly enough as it is. I wouldn't want to further damage his visage.' And she left with that stinging blow, her shrill shriek echoing in the room long after she had departed.

"Well, right after she left, the guys completely ignored me, thankfully. They might have also felt awkward, but I figured that as soon as I left, they would all bust a gut laughing at the ugly monkey. But for right then, and impressively enough, they all managed to fall back into an orderly line, in order that they too might be judged by Nimufu, the heartless witch. And that, Ryu, is my story."

"Uhhh…" I was speechless. How does one respond to that kind of thing? The urge to laugh which at first had been present was all but dissipated now. It was replaced by a sort of horror; how could anyone, even a witch, do that to another person? I mean, seriously; Sten was a monkey, sure, and a perverted one, too, but he wasn't ugly at all, and I told him so.

He gave a small little smile. "Well, thanks, Ryu. Glad to see someone who doesn't think so. Of course, you're no chick, soooo…yeah. But thanks for the support anyways. I'm just hoping that Katt doesn't share Nimufu's opinion on my looks."

"Trust me, dude. She doesn't."

"Oh really? And how do you know?"  
"My innate powers, mate. To be honest, I'm a great judge of people, and I can usually tell when feelings of like, dislike, or even animosity run from one person towards another. Especially with Katt; she's pretty easy to read. So don't a worry about it, my friend. If the stars are in favor of this, it will happen."

"The stars, eh? Well, I'm not too much of an astrology man myself, but if that's what you say…"

"No, no," I laughed. "I was just joking, you know? Mocking all those crazy old grandmas who are like 'The stars predict everything, and what they foretell, will always happen.' It's a load of crap, really. Sorry; I guess you're just not used to my sarcasm. But you will be, eventually; I guarantee it."

"All right. Cool, I guess."

"And dude, don't worry about your looks. Nimufu was a bitch, plain and simple. While Katt might display some bitchy qualities herself, she isn't nearly as bad as this witch sounds. Believe me: If she likes you in the slightest, you will know. And if she does, go for it, my friend. Do it to it. Do the do. All that good stuff."

He gave me a grin and reached up to slap me on the back. "Well, I must say, Ryu, you certainly know how to cheer a person up. Thanks a lot, pal. I'll keep all these words of yours in mind. And even if Katt ain't the one for me, well, there's always more fish in the sea. I just gotta do well to remember that, and I'll be fine. Thanks again, man."

I inclined my head modestly. I never liked being thanked too much, but it was nice to have some thankfulness poured in my direction.

He turned back towards the front. "Hey girls!" he called out. "What's going on? Sorry to have been ignoring you, but I was just chatting up my man Ryu here." He ran forward to try and catch up with them, while I quickened my pace to catch up.

They turned around, looked at the simian sight approaching them, and almost immediately began to giggle. It was quite amusing, I must say; all the jewelry going everywhere, plus his ridiculous hat that was just barely hanging on flopping all over the place, and his arms akimbo to the ground. Plus, it was a hot day, so the sweat was just flying off him. The whole sight was just weird-looking.

When he got to them, panting (they were quite a ways ahead of us), they had managed to suppress most of their laughter, but smiles still lingered on their faces. He looked quickly to both of them, bewildered. "What's so funny, gals?"

"Oh nothing, Sten," Katt said quickly. "We were just laughing at a, uh, joke that, uh, Nina here just told. It wasn't even that funny, really; kind of stupid, actually. But then, I have a bad sense of humor. So no worries."

"Righhhht. I'm sure you were just yukking it up at the old crazy monkey man. But that's all right. I can deal with that. So, anyways, what's up? I haven't been paying any attention really to where we're going, so…any ideas?"

"Actually, Sten," I said as I stepped between him and Nina. "I'm thinking we'll go to Capitan first, see if our thief really is there or if she has passed through it yet. If so, great. If not, well, then we go on to Simafort. Actually, it doesn't matter what we do; we'll still probably end up going to Simafort, unless the thief was dumb enough to park herself in Capitan. And Nina, Katt?"

"Yes?" they both said.

"Have you noticed any towns anywhere? Maybe we missed something; I don't know really, I haven't paid any attention at all."

"Yep, that's what Stenny boy here said too," Katt said, jerking a thumb over at Sten. "But fortunately, you're traveling with women, who are renowned for their keen sense of noticing. And guess what, Ryu?"

"What?"

"We're only about 200 feet from Capitan. Open your eyes, kid."

"Really? Oh…"

I turned around then, and saw before me a fairly small town, smaller than Hometown surely. There weren't even any guards at the gates.

So that was Capitan, eh? The town where our thief had hid herself in. Well, it was a good thing it was so small, then. Less area to look in.

I turned back to my companions. "All right, gang," I announced. "Come on; we're moving in. And we won't stop until we get at least some kind of clue about our winged acquaintance, got it?" They all nodded their heads. "All right, good; onwards, then!"


	14. Another note to readers

Author's Note

Hooooollllyyyy shizzle. I have not updated this story in forever! Damn! To my readers, who have probably dropped from the ranks of the faithful now that I have been so slow about getting this story updated, I apologize. This story had dropped completely from my mind, being as that this is my senior year in high school and I needed the time to work and have the fun I couldn't have in earlier years. But that's not too much of an excuse, considering how much free time I've had this year. But I promise, I will do my best to continue updating this story. I've kind of written myself dry, but I will keep it up as long as I can. It's starting to get to the interesting parts, anyways, what with the well and the shamans and Jean. We'll see. I thank you for your reading and commentary on this story; it always gives me encouragement to keep going when people say it's good. Thanks to everyone.


	15. Interlude: Ray

Interlude: Ray

"Ray…Ray…" a commanding voice called out from the darkness. "Ray, arise, and come to me right now. I have something you must do for me."

The priest Ray Handal stirred from his sleeping position on the hard stone floor of the Great Church of St. Eva. _Why don't I even get my own room_, he thought, not for the first time, as he sat up and shook his head to clear any signs of weariness. What could Habaruku want this time? Likely another menial task that any of the other priests could do.

But no. He must not think this way. Habaruku had rescued him, taken him from Dragonair before the corrupt Light Dragons came to rule it, taken him and raised him as his own son, something that meant so much more to Ray due to his father having been slain in his early years. And for that, he was eternally grateful to the old priest. But, damn, he could get aggravating at times!

He rose to a proper standing position, back erect, hands by his sides. Despite the absence of light, which would have prevented Father Habaruku from distinguishing anything about Ray, he still felt he should be respectful. "I am here, Father Habaruku. What is it you request?

"Ahhh, Ray. So good to hear your voice again. It's been a while since I visited you."

Ray froze. That voice…it was not Habaruku's! What demon might have possessed the old man? Whatever it was, it was going to pay!

"Freeze, monster!" Ray called out. "Show yourself to me! I order you, by St. Eva's name, to come out!"

"Oh, come now, Ray. If I was really intent on harming you, do you really think calling upon me by St. Eva is really going to help? After all, I'm on a first name basis with him." A slight chuckle followed, though rather than relieving Ray of any stress, it only increased it. That laugh was not anything natural. What could be talking to him?

"I-i-it doesn't matter to me about that, demon! Now show yourself!"

"Demon, eh? That's one way to describe me. I prefer to think of myself as a 'demi-god', but that's just me. Deathevan himself might even call me a god; perhaps not, though.

"Ray Handal, my name does not matter. But I shall tell you anyways. I am the Destroyer of Worlds, the Bane of the Light Dragons, the Curse of the Destined Child, God's Right-Hand Man…I AM BARUBARY!" With that final word, the now-shouting apparition came into view. A single blue flame had ignited from its tail, lighting the room up just enough to show a hard and shiny coating of armor that protected a monster too terrible to describe. Ray had never seen anything quite so terrifying, and at the same time, mesmerizing. What was going on here? St. Eva's right hand man? Here, talking to him, a lowly priest?

"Where is my master, Barubary? Where is Habaruku?"

A hiss of anger, then "Fool! You do not call me by my name! Only one has the power to do that." Then he relented. "Habaruku is safe. Do not be concerned about him; my God has a great use for him planned.

"I am here, Ray, to tell you of a plan that my God has for YOU. Or should I say, our God."

"St. Eva? A plan for me? But what could he want of me?"

There was a pause. "Deathevan has requested that you, shall we say, monitor the destined child on his inevitable path to Infinity."

"The destined child? You just mentioned you were his curse? Who is he?"

Another pause, and then, what almost sounded like a sigh. "A problem. A bigger problem than either myself or Deathevan anticipated. But he and his rag-tag band of friend are not an insurmountable one. My God has merely requested that we keep a watch on him; he feels this will be of benefit in the future. And as he is God, I felt it unwise to argue with him, despite my feelings on the subject. And I advise you don't either, if you like keeping your head where it is."

This time, it was Ray who paused. He had to be very careful with his words here. "What do you mean, your feelings?" he blurted out. _Damn_.

The light went out. "I…I cannot say here. One day, perhaps, I shall tell you. Once I can gain your trust. If I ever do. Do a good job with what I told you, and that trust just might be gained. But for now, you are akin to an enemy to me, though I know you have served my God for all your life. And know one thing: no one has ever gained my complete trust; so it would be almost impossible for a mere human such as yourself to do so where gods themselves have failed. But you might just surprise me. Still, in my business, it is best to trust no one. Remember that, Ray. And may Deathevan guide you on your path." There was a faint rustle, and Ray could tell that Barubary had departed from his presence.

"Hmmmmm. The destined child. He wants me to keep tabs on the destined child. Well, I would gladly do that if I even knew who he was…?"

Ray felt himself being lifted into the air. Was this the true power of St. Eva? Never in all his years as priest had Ray been privy to such a display. _How could anything so far away, anything not even living on earth have the ability to do this_? But he was God, after all.

"I'm coming, my Lord. I am coming to serve you." With a suddenly evil grin spreading over his face, Ray Handal prepared himself for the transportation. He could already see the location in his mind. Capitan…


	16. Beneath the Well

Beneath the well

My update is finally here! Woo hoo! Thanks to all those who were waiting (im)patiently for my next update. I hope you still are willing to read this writer's story, and I do sincerely apologize for the longgggg wait in between. Next up: Sana!

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When we got in, however, the town was deathly quiet. Not a soul was visible to our eyes, even though there were several buildings scattered about. It looked as if something evil had taken place there. Something our thief surely could have had nothing to do with. Something only a greater force could have done.

Sten walked ahead of me a few paces, giving the air a couple of sniffs. "Ryu, Katt, Nina," he began as he commenced pacing around the area. "I think something is definitely up with this place."

"No, really?" Katt said with a slight sneer aimed at Sten. I gave an inward sigh for Sten's behalf; he would really have to work hard to impress her. But she turned serious quickly; she too could sense something was up with the quiet town.

"Oh! You over there! Travelers! Please come here!"

We turned at the sound of the mysterious voice, one full of fear and apprehension. A fitting voice in this environment. About ten yards from us stood a regal-looking man, dressed in the finest robes one could find (a deep azure and gold color), but also clutching his hands tightly and looking harangued. Perhaps he knew something about what was wrong?

We walked over slowly, carefully, in case it was all a trap (and it certainly seemed like it could be). As we approached, the man ceased wringing his hands and brought them up high instead, as if giving a praise to Ladon.

"Thank Saint Eva you are here! I do not wish to startle you, but you have come at a very inopportune time. Practically the whole male population of the town has disappeared down this well next to me. First a little boy got lost down it, and everyone who has gone to look for him has not come back. I received notice of this tragedy from one of my followers, and have come here to offer my aid. But it is not enough; no one wishes to go with me."

"Oh damn…" I was quiet for a second. It sounded like a sticky situation, all right. _I wonder what's down that well that's keeping everyone down there…maybe permanently._

Katt cut in before I could find the words to say anything else. "We have to help. No question about it."

I looked at her briefly, staring at her eyes, which seemed a little more intense than usual. Why was she acting so unquestioningly helpful all of a sudden? But no time for that now; I would figure it out later.

"Well, man, it appears that Ms. Katt here would like to help you, even though you haven't explicitly asked for it (though I'm sure you are about to)" Nina said, ever the snarky one. "And while I am not as gung-ho about it as she seems to be, I too think we should go, don't you, Ryu? Sten?

Sten vigorously indicated yes, and I nodded slowly, still thinking hard about it. This man was different than others, no doubts about it. My Dragon's Tear was glowing a bright yellow, a very high color for anyone that I had met recently. What was his story, and why did he seem to have such a high affinity for me? _I will find out later. My good nature is taking over; we do have to help these people if we can. But first…_

"What is your name?"

The man looked startled, as if not expecting that question. "My name is Ray Handal, good sir. And I am a priest in the St. Eva church. But I can give you more details when the time is more convenient. Right now, I believe the missing villagers should be our top priority. That is, if you wish to help me along with your friends." He looked directly at me, seemingly challenging my morals. Just like a priest.

It irked me somewhat, though, priest or not. "Yes, Ray. We will help you and do what we can to rescue these villagers. One of my jobs as a ranger is to always help those in need. So you can count on us to get the job done."

He smiled warmly, and bowed low. "I thank you kindly. Please, come with me down the well. And watch your step going down; the rungs are fairly slippery."

-----------------------------------

"Ouch! Watch it, Sten."

"Er, sorry, Nina. I just can't help my long arms, especially when I CAN'T SEE!" It was easy to imagine his face looking exasperated in the dark.

I bit my lip trying not to laugh. Poor Sten; he could never win with the girls. But he had a point; it was incredibly dark at the bottom of the well. Thankfully, Ray had come equipped with a candle, which cast a fair bit of luminescence on our group.

I didn't have time to laugh for long. A mysterious, alien-looking creature came barreling out of the blackness towards us. It looked something like an ant, just a much, much bigger ant, and one who looked mean as hell. It had no eyes, a hard-looking shell, and was a whitish color; the absence of eyes freaked me out, as I imagined it did to everyone else too. Nina gave a sharp intake of breath when she spotted it, and Sten growled in disgust. But we had little time to focus on its bizarre appearance; after all, it was pissed.

I drew out my sword as fast as I could, and I saw Nina had already retreated to the back of the cavern and was gathering magical energy in her hands. Katt had beaten me to the punch, but was getting nowhere hitting the ant with her stick. Not even the claws at the end did any damage to the hard shell.

"Katt! Back away!" I shouted. "Your staff won't be any good. Leave this to me and Sten!"  
"Oh? Just you two?" Nina queried. "And what about me?" At her final word, she let out a blast of red energy towards the monster, and the outer shell exploded with a loud bang. The ant shrieked in pain, scurrying around unprotected. I figured this was a prime time to skewer it, which I did so, satisfyingly drawing out a nice glut of blood from its unprotected flesh.

I wiped my sword on the ground and gave a look at Nina. She was a better magician than she seemed, and each time she used her power, it always impressed me, as well as frightened me. How could such an innocent-looking girl be as mighty as she was? _Or that sarcastic, for that matter._

"Nina, my hat is off to you." I drew off my imaginary hat and bowed, only somewhat mockingly. "Now that that whatever-the-hell-it-was is gone, we can go on."

Ray, too, was looking at Nina, in much the same way I had been. I guess he hadn't had much exposure to magic either. Few people had, though. "Yes, Ryu," he said slowly. "Let us continue on. There are sure to be more, so keep on the lookout."

We progressed into the next room, and sure enough, Ray's prophecy turned out true. Two of the alien creatures were in there, and both came racing towards us when they ascertained there were beings other than themselves present. I gripped my sword, ready to stab again when ready, but I had no need to.

"Ryu, everybody!" Ray shouted out. "I will take care of these. Just go on; the villagers are our priority here, not these accursed monsters! Fear not; I have my own skills that will keep me safe. Just go, and do not tarry much longer here!"

I turned to my group, ready to protest. Ray looked mostly helpless; he didn't even have a weapon of any kind. How would he defeat two adversaries? Everyone else seemed okay with his decision, though, so I shrugged. "All right, Ray! If you need help, call out to us."

He nodded. "Will do, my friend. And take this. I don't need it." With that interesting farewell, he handed me the candle, then jumped forward and began luring the ants away from us. We raced ahead through the gap that was now open, and proceeded throughout the cave

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After having fought several more ant creatures, and even rescuing some of the villagers (some bizarre alien, like a smaller ant creature, was attached to their faces, but through some fire spell of Nina's, we were able to pull them off with no damage done to the men), we finally arrived at what looked like a large lake area. Guess this was where all the water supply for the well came from, though something was keeping it from free-flowing. On the far side, we spotted a tiny figure, and assumed it to be the little boy we had come searching for.

"You know, I think I can get him myself," Nina offered. "I'll just fly over there, grab him, and come back. And yes, Sten, I am strong enough to carry a little boy," she added as he was fixing to protest. "Don't worry." We saw no reason to deny her request, so she glided away, stopped at the island where the boy was at, offered him what were likely consoling words (we couldn't hear), and then allowed him to climb on her back. Puffing slightly when she got back, she nonetheless looked happy; it was her good deed for the day, I suppose.

Of course, the kid was still looking like he wanted to crap his pants, and I can't say I blame him. I mean, he had been trapped down here for some time. _I wonder how he was able to survive, food-wise. Obviously has plenty of water, though. Oh well, not really that important._

Something felt out of place, though. It's never as easy as that, not in my life. We were in some kind of alien ant colony, and if there's anything I remember about ant colonies, there was always a queen ant near the bottom of it, safe from harm. Well, here we were at the bottom of the well…I suddenly had a very bad feeling come over me.

"Everyone!" I shouted. "Get back out of here NOW! Something's coming!"

With an ear-splitting screech, a huge shape came crashing down in front of us. It had apparently been clinging to the ceiling. Shit. This was not good. As the monster righted itself, I noted that it looked similar to the other ants, only bigger…MUCH bigger. It filled at least half of the visible cavern space. It had ocular abilities, too, which was unfortunate. No easy blind kill. Damn. Oh well. For being what amounted to the queen, this creature certainly looked as well-protected as any other royal member. There was a huge alabaster shell encircling its back, and covering the shell were hundreds of tiny pearls – well, either they were pearls or eggs. It was hard to tell from our position.

Magic was definitely going to be key again; there was no way my sword or any of our weapons would be able to penetrate the shell, and the head was only barely visible beneath the shell. I leapt over to Nina's side, who was shielding the boy under one black wing. "Nina, do what you did with the others. But intensify it, if you can. Those spells worked on the underlings, but this is the queen we're talking about here."

She nodded fiercely. "I'll do my best, Ryu. Count on me, but keep me covered. If she charges me or anything, I'm toast; I can't move at all when I'm powering up. So, I hate to say it, but you and Sten and Katt need to be my bait."

I gave a short laugh; it seemed ridiculous, but it was our best hope. "All right. Keep alive, Nina."

-----------------------------------

_Keep alive? What kind of b.s. is that? I can't believe that bastard leaves me to do the hard work. He'll probably take all the glory too, as usual. Hmmph. But it's my turn to shine. I've been the one responsible for all the killings today, for once. Hehe. All right…what would be best for penetrating such a thick shell? Think, Nina. What would Yoji do? Oh! I know_

The answer hit me like a bolt of lightning, and funnily enough, that's what I needed to use. We were in a well, after all, and the creature was sopping wet. Of course, we all were too, so I needed to be extra careful. They could all clear out; like I said, I wanted to be the one to take the glory. I know I had told Ryu to be my bait, but I was a big girl; I could handle one monster. And besides, I didn't want to hurt any of them, especially Ryu. I just had to be very careful, because I would be on my own; and us magic users aren't very powerful on our own. Hmm…it was worth the risk.

"Ryu, Sten, Katt! Stand back! Actually, on second thought, get the hell out of here! I am going to deep-fry this sucker, and I don't want you guys caught in the crossfire!"

THAT got their attention. They were immediately scrambling over one another, trying to exit out the cavern. Clumsy fools. Ah well. Not everyone is as graceful as I.

I turned to face the mother dead on. I needed to concentrate so I wouldn't get zapped either. My lightning spell had a rather widespread effect, so I had to be very careful. Thankfully I was able to float, so I wouldn't get zapped by the ground current. I began my incantation, summoning all the powers of Vishkil, the lightning god.

Unfortunately, the monster decided at that moment to turn its full attention on me. Its black eyes narrowed when it saw me gathering my energy, and with an infuriated roar, it began closing in on me. I cursed my lack of mobility; it's the bane of any magic-caster, really. So all I could do was open my eyes REALLY wide in shock and start to yell out the s-word. It wasn't moving fast at all (after all, it was bigger than a house), but still, it would be upon me well before I was done casting my spell. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see what the creature would do to me.

But I snapped them back open when I heard a tremendous roar, a fierce feminine yell, and a braying call coming from my backside. I couldn't turn around, but I smiled hugely, knowing that my friends had come back to help. Thank God they didn't think I was as self-sufficient as I made out to be.

All three of them charged the monster at once, flaying at it with all their differing weapons. None of them were going to do any damage, but that was all right; I was the one who had to hit the monster where it counted. And I had to aim true; the head was a very small target. Their appearance did mean I would have to change my spell; damn. But still, no need to fry the entire cavern, and possibly my companions too.

A minute of fierce combating from Ryu and them later, my second spell was fully charged. With my own little yell, I let out a decent-sized fireball, aimed straight for the queen's noggin. And like an arrow shot true, it went right into its target. A bright orange flash went up, illuminating the cavern briefly and giving us all a glimpse of the creature's pain as the fire enveloped its face and seared its flesh. It was a terrifying sight. Seeing such things made me hate being a magician at times; despite all my tough exterior, I was still a nice person at heart. Thank my mother for that.

We walked over and inspected the body; thankfully, it was dead, or at least appeared so. I was relieved; we could get out of here now. This place was starting to creep me out; all those weird eyeless ant creatures, then those things on the villagers' faces, and finally this huge queen ant. Unsettling, all of it. But we had the kid now, and we needed to mosey on.

I tugged on Ryu's arm. "Come on, let's get out of here," I pleaded.

He gave a quick nod. "Nina's right," he announced. "We've completed our task, and everyone's waiting for us to get back. Let's go."

-----------------------------------

We made our way back to the room where we had left Ray. The two ant corpses were laying by his feet, and he appeared to be meditating, sitting on the floor cross-legged. Guess that is what a St. Evan priest has to do. He had some guts, though, doing that when all those ant creatures were still lurking around the cave. I didn't want to disturb him, but I didn't have to worry, because as we approached him, he opened his eyes and smiled a serene smile at us.

"Ryu, everyone. I'm glad to see you have made it back safely. And with Edward, too!" He smiled even bigger at the boy, who gave a tentative grin back. "My boy, it pleases my heart most of all to see you safe and sound. Your family has been worried to death about you; they will be so happy to have you back." His eyes widened as he saw all the villagers with us as well. "Oh, thank St. Eva! You have rescued all the other missing villagers as well. Ryu, my friend – you have proven yourself to be quite a hero. And all your companions as well; I am blessed to have found you all." He gave a low bow.

Well, I for one was slightly embarrassed by all the praise. I'm not used to such things, even when I do a job well done. I could tell Katt and the rest of them were feeling the same way. Sten especially was acting nervous, just scratching his head and looking around.

But it is best to be gracious. I returned Ray's bow. "Thank you very much for your praise, Ray. It was an honor for us to be able to help you, and all the villagers as well."

He nodded sagely. "Yes, Ryu. And now…" his voice trailed off, and he turned around expectantly. "I hear something. It sounds like…water!" We all strained an ear; none of us could hear anything.

"What are you talking about, priest? There's no water anywhere down here! It's all dried up." One of the villagers made this claim, an old man bent over double from arthritis.

Ray turned and gave him a hard stare, and the man's resolution seemed to wilt under it. "No, good sir; there is. It's just been stopped away by these alien creatures. But now that they have been destroyed, their barriers on the water have as well. I advise everyone in here to head back up to the surface. The flood that is coming is going to be extremely powerful, and will cause severe bodily harm to anyone in here. Ryu," and here he turned to face me. "Get the old men and the child up to the surface; they are our priorities. I will hold off the flood as long as I can. Just get out of here now."

I stared at him incredulously. One man, holding back a flood of water? Was he crazy, or even more powerful than I suspected? If he was…that thought troubled me. Was he in cahoots with St. Eva himself? It was possible; how else could a man purport to have the power to hold back millions of gallons of water? But I had to worry about all that later; as he said, my priority was finishing this rescue mission.

"Everyone in the room! Follow me outside and up the ladder. Quickly, please, but no shoving or pushing. We have enough time to get out of here before the water comes." I started a sprint outside, and was pleased to see everyone was following me at a similar pace. When we arrived in the first room, I allowed everyone to climb up the ladder ahead of me. I stayed at the bottom, though; I wanted to see something. Katt put a concerned hand on my shoulder.

"What is it, Ryu? What are you waiting for?"

I stared off into the blackness of the room where Ray still was. "I just want to see something…you can go on up, Katt. No need for you to risk your life being down here with me."

"No way, Jose! I'm staying down here with you. If you get to risk your life, I get to too. Besides, you already saved my life once; don't try and do it anymore. It was hard enough thanking you the first time." She said that in a serious tone, but I could tell behind her expression, she was smiling.

I gave a deep sigh. Too deep for the situation. I was messing with her, too; but she probably thought I was being serious. "Fine, Katt. I am just curious about our new friend, is all. I have a funny feeling about him…I just don't know if it's good or bad. And I want to see what he does exactly to hold that water back."

She pursed her lips. "You know, I feel the same way about him. I grew up trusting the elders and priests of my tribe, but I just can't feel the same automatic trust for Ray that I did for them. So I'm all with you, Ryu." She gave me a smile. It was somewhat surprising to see, but not a bad thing at all.

We both peered around the corner into the portion of the cave where Ray was still standing. Katt and I exchanged a nod; we could easily hear the roar of the maelstrom now. It was rushing hard and fast, and before we knew it, we could see the great tide gushing into the cavern where Ray stood. And stand he did: he made no attempt to move from his spot. Either he was crazy, or he really did intend to hold it back. I was more interested than ever.

Just mere feet before the water enveloped him, Ray gave out a cry and held up his right hand, and a portal of light emitted from it. The effect was immediate; the water, so powerful seeming at first, crashed harmlessly against the barrier. As he lowered his hand, the barrier, incredibly, remained in place. He stared at it for a second longer, then turned around and began ambling our way. I gave a little hiss, and pulled Katt out from behind me. I didn't want him to see us; we needed to mosey out of there, quickly. We finally climbed up out of the well and into the town proper.

I will admit, I was astonished by the entire display, and more than a little unnerved. Why did such a powerful man need my ragtag band's assistance with a task he could have easily accomplished himself? He probably could have blown up that queen without so much as a second thought. I would need to be more than my usual careful self; this man, whoever he was, needed some serious looking-after. Could he possibly have some connection to Father Hulk back in Gate? Or perhaps even know something about this Destined Child thing? I needed to question him thoroughly, once everything got settled down.


	17. Burnin' Down the House

Burnin' Down The House

Sten was pacing around the room, not nervously, but out of sheer boredom. "What's taking him so long?" he asked no one in particular. "We rescued all the villagers, killed those weird ant things, and he saw us come back to the surface. What could he possibly be doing down there?"

Katt and I exchanged a furtive glance. It was best not to share what we saw down there, not yet. Ray's power was great indeed, but likely not one he wished us to know about. The fewer who knew, the better. Besides, I was the only one who really needed to question him.

The door burst open suddenly, dramatically. In walked Ray, not a stitch of his clothing wet. Even more impressive.

"Ryu, Nina, Katt, Sten," he said to us all, making a little bow at each of us. "You have my true and humble thanks for this rescue mission. It was not your duty to perform, but you still undertook it, helped me in my task, wiped out an evil alien race, and rescued every villager who had been captured. That certainly deserves a fair reward, wouldn't you say?" Katt and Sten both nodded eagerly at that, to which he smiled benignly. "I thought as much; and it will be my pleasure to bestow the power of St. Eva upon you." The pair of them looked ready to jump out of their skins in excitement; it was all I could to not laugh, though inwardly my mind was racing at his last statement. _St. Eva's power? What could that be? I was taught to never partake in anything dealing with them; my father always told me they were evil. I'm not about to start now._

"Rey," I announced loudly. "It was our pleasure to assist you and Capitan's people in this matter. And you are most kind in giving us such a blessing. Tell me, though, would it be for all of us?"

He looked slightly taken aback at this question. "Well, Ryu, I was hoping I could give it to everyone in the party. You all were responsible for the help, after all; it'd be quite unfair to give this power to just one of you. Are you, by chance, saying you do not wish for the blessing of St. Eva?"

_Dammit. Now I look like the bad guy._ "Erm…actually, yeah. It's nothing personal at all; I'm thankful for it. It's just, St. Eva goes against who I believe in, and to be part of any ritual with them would tear my inner soul asunder."

I heard a small gasp from Nina. Apparently, she couldn't believe my crassness. I'd explain it to her later; for now, better to look like an ass than be a part of that wicked thing.

Ray looked at me hard for a couple of seconds, our eyes locking, challenging the other. But he must have seen I wasn't going to change my mind, so he simply shrugged. "It's your decision, Ryu. I do not think any less of you for rejecting my offer; I know St. Eva is not for everyone. I presume you belong to the Dragon God?"

That took me a bit by surprise; it had been years since I heard anyone mention Ladon. _Who is this guy?_ "I do, yes. How'd you know?"

Again, the benevolent smile from him. "I am well versed in the main religions of the world. And, to be honest, I saw your dragon's tear. It reminded me of something I saw a friend of mine have as a boy growing up. Though, yours looks more intriguing than his did."

_That's certainly intriguing. I wasn't aware other dragon's tears existed_. "That's very interesting, Ray. I've been a member of the Dragon Lord's religion since my childhood; my father was a priest in the order.

His eyes lit up some; they were a deep shade of blue, I just noticed, almost black. "Well! My father is a priest in the order of St. Eva. Perhaps you and I have more in common than I first thought, Ryu. I certainly look forward to any future meetings we will have.

"However, my time here is drawing to a close. I promised my father I would return to help him in the church as soon as I could; Before I go, I do wish to bestow my gift of a renewal spell on anyone who so chooses? Nina, Sten, Katt? Do any of you want to receive this blessing? It's the gift of free life, just so you know."

After hearing that, Katt and Sten practically knocked each other, and me, down in order to get to Ray first. Sten got there first, though; sometimes, there are advantages to being a monkey. Not many, though. Nina, though, surprisingly hung back. I gave her a quizzical look, and she shook her head and flew closer to me. "I looked ahead in my textbooks at school. I can learn this spell pretty simply on my own. And I'm with you; I don't trust a St. Evan priest either. I may not believe in Ladon either, but from all the stories I have heard of St. Eva, they're a group to avoid. I'll take learning it my own way than being blessed with it by this guy." She stole a quick glance at him. "Even if he is kinda cute."

I had to roll my eyes at that. Girls and their tendency to blab on. I'd have to return that favor somehow later. But for now, business. I had heard a noise that sounded like an angelic chorus from behind me, and saw out of the corner of my eyes a great flash of pure white light. Must have been Ray working his magic on my friends. For an instant, I felt a pang of desire to be part of that little inner circle of gift giving, but hey. I had Nina by my side, and if she didn't do it, well, dammit, that made me feel a lot better. We turned to watch what was left; unfortunately, the sparklers has died down, but it was quite humorous to see both Sten and Katt standing with a dazed expression on their faces.

Ray caught my eye as I was staring at his little group and gave a little start. "Ryu, it's been a pleasure. And again, I and this town sincerely thank you for your great help. I must depart now, but we will see each other again soon. Take care until then, and may St. Eva bless even you, the non-believer." He cast his eyes down here and began muttering hurriedly to himself, words I couldn't understand in the slightest.

To my astonishment, a shimmering pillar of incandescent light enveloped Ray, stretching all the way to the roof of the house. He cast both arms up as if in prayer, and immediately his bodily form disappeared, a weird noise happened, and the light was gone.

All of our group was silent for a minute or so; I'd never seen anything like it, and even our great magician seemed befuddled. I looked over where she stood next to me; her face was white.

"Ryu," she said softly. "Maybe we should have accepted his gift. I don't want to be on his bad side, ever. I've seen a lot of magic in school and in the world, but I have never seen someone able to master teleportation. Ray's far more powerful than I thought he was." She turned her eyes to me. "I'm a little scared, Ryu. I don't want him to hurt us."

I drew even closer to her and put a comforting arm around her. "He won't, Nina. I promise. He's on our side, remember? And I'm sure he always will be. Just because we stand on opposite ends of the religious canyon doesn't mean we won't get along. He seems to like me, after all, and I am certain he likes you too." I gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about him."

A slight cough from Sten interrupted me, and I looked over to see him looking slightly annoyed and Katt more than slightly pissed. "When you two lovebirds are doing in the corner there, we need to figure out our next order of business," he said.

"Oh! Right!" I said with some forced enthusiasm; I was enjoying my semi-private moment with Nina. "Didn't we already agree, Simafort was the next place to go? We came here for news on the thief, but everyone was in the well, and she wasn't down there. I guess we do need to ask the townspeople some questions first, though." They all nodded their assent. "All right, let's split up! No pairing of any kind; it'll be faster if we just question them by foot. Let's meet back here in an hour or so. Good luck!" _Damn, I love taking charge._

_

* * *

_

There he was. That foxy young thing I'd been looking for for months now; I didn't think I'd have much of a chance running into such a guy here in this little out of the way town. But, to give it credit, it did turn out to be a port town. And you can find quite a number of characters in these places. Boy, the stories I could tell you…

I digress. I'm Sana, the fire shamanesss. None of that shaman stuff – I am an independent woman, and I call it like it is. I'm part of a very powerful clan of magicians – me, my five sisters, and my nutty grandma. We all have the same goal in life: find a proper mate to join with, and release their latent talents. This doesn't mean we screw every guy we see to check if they have powers; nope, we have an inborn sensor. The special ones just kinda glow. And this blue-haired boy…zowza! I'd never seen such a strong aura about someone; he just oozed power.

But truth be told, I'd never had anyone. My sisters had, all of them, but I was the runt of the litter. Poor old Sana, twenty three and never found a man to shamanize. Such was the fate of some people, I suppose.

All the more reason I wanted him. Actually, strike that. I needed him. I'd never run into someone like that again, I could just feel that. I needed to act.

I stepped right in front of his path as he was travelling in between houses; was he a door to door salesman or something? Ah, it didn't matter. There was something nice about a career man. "Hey there, handsome," I said in my best seducing voice. "What are you up to here in this place? A guy like you is too good looking for Capitan."

He flushed a dark red; excellent. "I have a mission to attend to for my party; we're looking for information regarding a thief, a girl who looks like a bat." He gave my body a quick study. "Who isn't you."

That actually kind of hurt, in a roundabout way. At least the way he said it. Oh well; I still needed him. "Well, I might not be the girl you're looking for, but it doesn't seem like you're having much luck finding her! So how about it, darlin'? Maybe you can come with me somewhere and take your mind off things. I got a thing or two I want to show you." And just to complete my whorish image, I dropped him a wink. I didn't think he'd be able to resist.

Unfortunately, that bastard either got laid all the time, or he had the will of a statue. My lines and even my infamous wink did nothing for him. I sighed inwardly. Would I really have to flash him? I'd hoped it wouldn't have had to come to that, but sometimes you must do things that some would consider unnatural…

"Actually…" my blue haired boy threw a guilty glance around. "Yes, I do want to come with you. I need to get away from this group of mine for a little while; they mean well and I love them, but boy do they drive me crazy. Do you have a place around here?"

I was a little surprised at his turnaround; all I ever got were flat out rejections from the good ones or the bad ones always hit on me and **I **had to turn them down. This was quite the turn of events. Was he hiding from someone? A jilted lover in that group of his? Anything was possible, I suppose. I didn't want to pry, though.

I grabbed him by the arm; he was a bigger fellow than he looked like from a distance. Definitely full of raw power – that was perfect. A great physical specimen to boot. He was going to do just nicely.

"Well, darling, my house is in the woods. Just follow me and we'll be there soon." He took one last glance over his shoulder, sighed once, and fell in step beside me.

* * *

I had no idea where this crazy bitch who looked like some cheap skank was taking me, but I wasn't lying to her. I really did need a break from my pals. You might think a world-traveling journey with pals is fun and all, but considering my best friend wasn't even with me, I could only get so much happiness out of it. I couldn't wait to see him again; he was still slaving away at Niro's with Rand as far as I knew. _I wonder how far they've come. Probably a good while; maybe built an extension or two? We really need to go see them again. It's been months. _

We stopped in front of an older looking log cabin. I had barely been paying attention to where we were going; we hadn't been walking very far, though, I knew that. It was a rather unimpressive looking house, but still – log cabins are built for durability, not for attractiveness. Sounded like Rand to me. Ah, I was too cruel to my absent friends.

My partner looked at me. "This is the house, Ryu. My granny should be inside, but don't mind her; there's a room in the back for us.

So she really was a whore; just my luck. I had to hope Nina and Katt didn't notice me gone and come looking for me. I needed to keep my relationships with both high. I wasn't going to give in to this girl; something about her drew me to her, and it wasn't her revealing clothing; I was able to check my dragon's tear when I saw her, and it was a dark blue – very high colors for a random stranger. So, whore or not, she needed investigating.

I followed her inside willingly. Sure enough, there was a wizened old lady hunched doubly over in the first room, leaning over a table and reading out of some giant tome. Sana marched right over to her and slammed a fist down on the table. "Granny," she announced. And then she bent low to her grandma's ear and started whispering excitedly. That was never a good sign. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot while waiting for them to finish. I saw the old woman's eyes and face perk up when Sana was done, and her demeanor improved noticeably.

Carefully, she stood up, and with Sana's guidance, walked over to me. "Hmmm…he is a good one, my dear child. You've done very well." Her voice was thin and papery; there was no mistake, this lady had to be near her deathbed.

She motioned for Sana to talk to me. "Ryu…we can't lie to you. I was instructed to bring to this house someone of formidable strength and power, someone whom I can extract a living power from. And you have that, in greater abundance than anyone I've seen or ever heard of."

I gave her my traditional blank face. _A living power? What on earth? Could she be referencing what I think she is? _"Maybe you should explain that better, Sana."

She gave a quick sigh. "Okay, basically. You're a bad ass. And you have this power in you, an untapped power, that is stronger than anything I've seen. We can extract that power from you. Me and my grandma, and my five sisters, are shamanesses. We can have the power to literally combine people together to create a super being, But you, on the other hand…you don't need to be combined. There's a latent power in you, growing since you must have been a boy, and just begging to be unleashed. We want to help you to bring it forth."

My eyes narrowed slightly. This sounded a little too good to be true, but what if they were right? I always knew I had been more powerful than most, and surviving the attack from Barubary all those years ago still stuck with me. But what was it I had..

Sana was about to begin talking again when I held up a hand. "I got the picture, I think. I want your help. I've been trying to figure out what this part of me is; I've felt it gnawing at my soul, like you say, since I was a kid. I fought a huge demon and escaped with my life after it threw a shockwave at me, a wave I knew should have killed me. But it didn't, and here I stand. Do whatever you want to me, misses. I want to know the truth."

Judging by their surprised looks, they obviously weren't expecting me to agree so readily. I do like surprising people from time to time. The little old granny's mouth opened real quick, closed, then opened again. "Go, Sana! Prepare the spell!" Hurriedly her granddaughter set to busying herself, flying about the small cabin, grabbing this ways and that ways every sort of potion, kettle, and cat a witch might have. Well, okay. They weren't witches, but damn close enough. I sighed and sat down on the now-vacant chair. I was excited for this, but at the same time, kind of nervous. _What will they do? Some kind of separation spell, I guess. I dunno anything about those, though! I wish Nina were here so I could ask. Or even Sten. He's a street magician, true, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve_.

After about ten minutes of waiting, and a lot of listening to Sana humming and saying strange incantations, she looked up suddenly, a look of triumph on her pretty face. I have to say, I like those foreign girls, and she had the look of a gypsy to her. Sexy…but I digress. "I have it, Ryu! The spell is ready. Now, if you'd kindly walk to the center of the room." She gave me a big smile. I couldn't resist; plus, I was here for that anyway!

As I parked myself there, I noticed there was a large circle inscribed with runes on it._ Must be a magic thing._ I paid it no real mind.

Once more, Sana began her weird chanting, with her granny joining in this time. I looked down and around me, and was greeted by a sight that actually terrified me. Rising up around me, much like the light pillar around Ray, was another column of…something. Not light, it certainly looked more dangerous than that; a sheet of fiery red, then sky blue, and finally aqua blue was erupting all around me. I had about a foot of room on either side of me, or else that thing would likely fry me. I stayed rooted to my stand. I couldn't hear the women anymore; the roar was too loud. _But was it coming from this pillar, or something in me?_

My answer was given in an instant. I felt a great tug on my inner soul (if such a thing can be felt), and I felt a voice speak to me that I hadn't heard in eyes: that of the great eye. _So! You have awakened the first set of powers. I knew this day would eventually come; our God foresaw and told me of it. I once again underestimated you, Ryu. Your strength is astounding, and it increases day by day. We didn't anticipate this day would come this early, though, or in this manner. Shamans…fascinating stuff, really. But! Continue your search for power, Ryu. We need you to become as powerful as you can be. Your sacrifice will bring God to his full strength, enough where he can rise from his underground tomb and wreak havoc on this world of disbelievers. So continue, Ryu, the Destined Child. Fuel your fire, unleash your hidden power, illuminate the world on your true self, and make them tremble. Who knows, we might even be able to use you…if you're willing. But knowing the little I do about you, I'd say one of us is going to have to kill the other. And believe me when I tell you, Ryu, I am not planning on losing. _

The voice was suddenly gone. I hadn't seen the eye this time, but I knew it was Barubary. How did he have access to my mind and soul this way? It was unnerving, to say the least. But, oddly enough, the least of my focus then. Following his speech, the tugging became a huge pull, and as I looked down and around me, blinded to anything but the multicolored barrier, confused as could be, I heard a loud hiss that turned into a titanic roar, and I suddenly felt my body jerked back and up into the air. I floated there helplessly, my head back over way backward, arms dangling limply to my sides. There was yet another pull on my inside, and to my astonishment, I saw a form rise up and out of me, a great, terrifying form that looked like a…_Dragon?_ It was unbelievable; a deep red dragon welled forth from my inner being, raising first its scaly head out, then pushing the rest of its body out. My physical self felt nothing, though; there was a great rending of my soul, though. This dragon must have been the hidden power Sana said she would unleash; how was it in me, though? What kind of monster was I?

The dragon was completely out of me, now. As I looked harder, it appeared to be transparent, but it was hard to tell with the ever-changing lights surrounding me still. It reared back on its two short hind legs, brayed out an enormous bellow that shook me to my core, unfurled its huge, veined wings, shook its head once, and, pointing its head to the roof, opened its mouth and unleashed a jet of red-black fire. I closed my eyes and flinched away from the noise and the heat. _That's not good! Ladon help us, this place is made of logs! It'll go up like nothing. I hope Sana and her granny were able to escape. If something happened to them…no. Nothing did. I am sure they are fine._

And then suddenly, the dragon was gone, and I felt myself being pulled out by four sets of hands (_four? Where did all these people come from?). _The pillar of light was gone too, and as I stepped out into the open plains again, I noticed the house was too. Where it was once stood was now a pile of smoldering cinders.

Now that I was out of my protective force field, I was hit with the acrid smell of the smoke and began coughing wildly. After rubbing my eyes and taking several steps back, I opened them and looked to see who my extra rescuers had been. To my little surprise, my entire group stood there, with their expressions a mixture of shock, concern, and even some slight annoyance. The shamaness and her grandma were standing there too, and they were looking just as amazed as the others. They didn't even look a bit mad I had burned their house down, but I suspected that was some kind of façade; they'd probably light into me later.

"Ryu," began Nina slowly. "What in the name of all that is holy and unholy was that?" Her face was dripping with fear, her face ashen, and her wings drooping down. I had scared even the mighty black witch of Windia? That was a new experience. She was the only one who had spoken up, but I could tell the others were equally frightened of the sight they had just witnessed.

"I…I don't know what to tell you guys. That thing frightened me as much as it did you, and I am not one to scare easily. But before I say anything else, let me formally apologize to you, Sana and Sana's granny. I had no idea I was harboring such a –"

"Stop, stop, boy!" Sana's granny was waving her hands about, cutting me off. All her previous tiredness seemed to be gone, and her voice was much stronger. "You did US a service. You're of the Dragon Clan! Ladon help me, I never thought I'd see another member in this lifetime. For all I know, and that's plenty, you might just be the last surviving member." She turned to her granddaughter, practically hopping with excitement. "Sana, Sana. Did you see that? This boy's a dragon! You brought home a dragon! Oh, I wish your mother were here to see this!"

Sana grabbed her grandmother, and to my surprise, begin dancing around with her. "Oh, yes, grandmother! I found a dragon; we found a dragon! Oh, what a happy day this is!" They continued their impromptu dance routine for a minute more, leaving us to stare openly, then let go of each other, turned to us (to me, actually), and bowed deeply to the ground.

"Master Ryu," they began. "We are your humble servants. You have a power far beyond that which we ever comprehended, and it was our humble pleasure to bring it forth."

Here Sana spoke up above her grandmother. "However, Ryu, I hate to cut this short, and as much as we are in awe of your abilities, that awe won't build a house around us. We need a place to stay. Do you have any idea where we might be able to ensconce ourselves?"

_Nice. A big word from her. I'm impressed_. "Actually, my dear ladies, I have just the place…"

* * *

"Are you serious, man? You really are asking me to give up the room I just built for us (and let me reiterate, for US!) for that bimbo and her weird old granny? That really hurts. I haven't seen you in ages, and not only do you tell me you can't stay but one night, but you're asking me to give up something I slaved over for us? Damn, man."

Bow wasn't taking the news as good as I'd hoped. "I'm really sorry, man. But I have to pay them back! I burnt down their freaking house, okay? That's not something you just apologize for; I had to take action. And we've come a long way – Capitan is ages away. I know you wanted to spend some time with me and with us, and we'll come back for you soon, I promise. The house is looking great! I have to hand it to you, you've really done an amazing job on it."

He gave me his goofy grin. "Aw, thanks, Ryu. That means a lot coming from you. But don't just thank me; Rand did the lion's share of the work. And I was quite willing to let him do so; most of these chunks of rock and crap were way too big for me to handle alone."

"Ah, well, I will be sure to thank him as well! Where is that big fella, anyway?"

"Oh, Rand? He's over here. I'll go get him for you. I'm sure Niro will be happy to see you too! And how's it going with the ladies?" He gave me his trademark wink. "I'm hoping all this time on the road has gotten you close with at least one of them."

I gave a short laugh. "Yes, well. I'll tell you that some other time, Bow."

He looked disappointed. "What? How come?"

I leaned in closer to him. "I'll tell you when they're not standing right behind you."

He turned a bright red. "Oh! Gotcha. Hehe." He turned back to face them. "Ladies, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Bow. I've been best friends with Ryu since way back when, when we were little kids. I introduced him to a life of crime, actually. Did he happen to mention that?"

I gave a sigh from behind him. Just what I needed; Bow to run his mouth about our past escapades. Oh well. They already knew about me leaving Gate and Barubary almost killing me and what not. I guessed he could tell any story he wanted about our petty crime life AFTER Gate (and I am only somewhat chagrined to say I did have one, for a brief time). Besides, they might even get a kick out of it; I figured Katt would like it especially. She seemed like the bad boy type; Nina…well, Nina was a different story. I would really have to play up my sensitive side to win her over. I think I was doing well with it, though. It was nice, I had to say. From having to ignore girls completely thanks to my rangers duties to being able to pick and choose who I wanted. I love being a free man.

* * *

Not that free, though. I was now stuck on a transport ship going from Capitan across the sea, to Simafort. Not directly to Simafort, but close enough. It was in the middle of its own separate lake; getting there would be interesting.

We had left Capitan shortly after hiring a carpenter to go and help Bow and Rand with Niro's house. More than a house now, though. It was looking to become its own little town; for that, we had decided to give it the name of Township. A quaint little name, but I rather liked it.

"Ughh. Remind me never to travel by sea again." Nina was leaning over the railings, looking concerningly green. I shifted a few feet away from her. I liked her, but not enough to get puked on. She gave a sigh. "If only I were a little older…" She gazed out into the distance with an expression that mixed dreaminess with sadness. I wondered what she could be referring to. Something to do with the kingdom? I didn't want to press the matter, though.

I felt a clap from behind on my lower back. "These gals ain't made for sea travel, are they, Ryu?" Sten cracked up at his own observation. "Unlucky for them, this world's mostly water. Course, we've been traveling by land a lot. I do wonder what all is out there, though." He turned to the horizon too; was everyone but me getting lost in the magic of the ocean? There was silence for a moment, then he spoke quietly. "I don't know about where we're heading, Ryu. It's near Nimufu's palace. That's all that's been on my mind this trip. I have to go back and face my demon. It's killing me that she humiliated me so completely and I couldn't do anything about it." He gave me a hard look. "But I have help now. Help to fight that bitchy witch, and any underlings she might have."

I gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You know we're here for you, Sten. You've become a good friend to all of us, and you're an integral part of this group. Of course we'll help you beat the witch. Now, that's not to say we won't laugh if she tries anything like that again…kidding, kidding!" I said quickly, noticing his expression change to deep annoyance. "She'll be toast with us, man. And you'll have your sweet revenge. You're traveling with a dragon now, remember?" He gave me a grin, nodded, and headed over to where Nina was standing. I narrowed my eyes slightly; I had become somewhat possessive of her, though I hadn't even made a real move yet. Was that a good or a bad sign? I didn't know.

But back to my powers…as mighty as it seemed at first, what I transformed into now was only a dragon pup. After consideration and usage of my powers in battle, we had all concluded that the huge beast that had surged out of my body was an evolved form, something I had the potential to reach. But not quite yet. When I unleashed my transformative powers, I did turn into a dragon, yes – but only a mini-sized one. It was still enough to toast most enemies, though. I was like my own shape-shifter; I had a fire-based, ice-based, and thunder-based dragon to call forth at any time. The only problem was, I couldn't travel around the field in the form; it sapped my energy far too much. I could only use it once before having to rest. I wondered if there was a way to make the power last longer, or for it to not drain me so quickly. Their power's, MY power's, potential was astonishing, though, and truly terrifying; I kept hearing Barubary's voice in my ear, that voice of evil tinged with fear and respect for me, Ryu Bateson. Was it possible to inflict fear in a demon that mighty? It seemed so, but it was still unbelievable.

The rush of power was unlike anything, though. It flowed through my body and made me feel more alive than I'd ever been. If this was what being the Destined Child was like, then it more than made up for the hardship I faced as a child, and the continuing battles ahead. With the power of Ladon now exhibited where I could physically feel it, nothing could stand in my way. The only wish I had was that Ganer, my dearly departed father, could have seen me. Him, the high priest of the Dragon God, and his son being a member of the Dragon Clan itself! I gave a short laugh to myself; I wonder if he had any idea of my destiny. One day, I would find him, and ask just why he abandoned me all those years ago. And Yua…where had she gone, too? She would have been about 15 now; I had always kept my eyes peeled for a blue-haired girl version of me, but in my travels, I had yet to be in luck. I held out hope against hope to run into both of them still one day, but my priority now was on the thief. Bow had taken precedence over my family; and that was okay. He had been there for me from the beginning, ever since I was left alone, and he deserved my help in this, his darkest hour. I knew he would do the same for me. It's what best friends do, after all

* * *

Mud was all I saw. Ah, to be rescued from this toadish form of mine! Curse zat witch Nimufu! She could not resist moi, Prince Jean de Florrette, joyau de la mer. I am beautiful, powerful, rich, and a world-famous cook! What is not to love about me? How could she spurn me so badly, and curse my figure, all for reciting poetry to her? Alas, the scorn of a beautiful woman is a scorn so hard to bear. Especially one so powerful as Nimufu. She had a huge scope of influence amongst the nobles; many of them came to her tower for a little "pleasure-seeking", as they so crassly called it. I was hoping to avoid her entrapment, but her allure was so intoxicating, I couldn't help but be drawn to her.

But voices! I heard voices from above me. Some group of travelers was walking in my woods; no time to think on why they might be here, I needed to get their help. So few people walked through here, and I had already been away from my kingdom for weeks. The tragedy of it all! My little Petite. How I missed her.

"So there I was, dangling helplessly in the tree over this bear, and suddenly…Whoa!"

"Ladies, gentlemen!" I cried out as I hopped out of the mud. I knew my appearance to be less than regal, but there was no time to wash off my dirtiness. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Prince Jean de Florette, heir to the throne of Simafort, and cursed in this hideous form by the evil witch Nimufu." It was a gamble to take; I knew it would have seemed a ridiculous story coming from anyone, let alone a titanic toad.

There came a shout from the back of the group. "Nimufu? You've been cursed by that -?" The ape man uttered such an uncouth remark that I dare not even put it down, but though his language was excessive, I agreed with him, and nodded in assent. He gave a sigh. "I should have known I wasn't the only one to have a problem with her. Girl like that probably treats every guy she comes into contact with like that. I'm sorry you had to go through it too, Jean." He gave me a quick glance. "Though it looks like you got it worse."

I narrowed my eyes at him. How obtuse of him! But it didn't matter. My eyes had just fastened on the two beautiful females travelling with the monkey and the blue-haired boy. Mon dieu! I had not seen such beauty, nay, not in any frog in the whole of Simafort. One a ferocious looking feline, the other a delicate creature with the most beautiful black wings I'd ever seen. Wait a moment! Black wings? Could this have been Nina, the infamous princess of Windia? She was supposed to have been cast out of the kingdom years ago; perhaps this was why she was with this ragtag band? Well! This might prove interesting. The other was more voluptuous, I granted her that, but even the chance for a marriage of kingdoms was far too great an opportunity to pass up! I might have to compete with these two ruffians, which in my present condition would pose a sky-high challenge, but once I was myself again…they would not pose any kind of threat. And either of the girls, or even both, would be mine. Heheh.

"Travelers, you look well strong enough to assist me in my quest for revenge, if you feel so inclined. I beg you, help me defeat Nimufu, and I will be reverted to my normal self. I assure you, you will be greatly rewarded for your efforts!"

To their credit, they gathered and gave me an answer quickly. Their hearts and intentions must have been pure. The blue-haired boy, who appeared to be the leader of their little group, spoke up. "We will gladly assist you, my amphibious friend. We are actually wishing to investigate Nimufu's tower ourselves, for Sten here, who already introduced himself to you." He gave a laugh. "He's had his own troubles with that lady, though his were of a different variety. So it'd be a pleasure to help you out, too." He paused for a second, and seemed to consider something, but then shook it off. "We'll meet back here after we have talked with her, or dispatched her, or whatever it takes.

I could have kissed him. But my mouth was saved for those of the feminine persuasion, and instead I gave a little ribbit. "Thank you, my most kind and esteemed sir! You're been more helpful than you know!" _If all goes right, for the unification of the great kingdoms of the sea and the air. But he need not know that. Still, I would still assuredly be in debt to him if he did rescue me; he'd definitely get an invitation to the wedding. _


	18. The Blackest Witch

**Author's note: I have decided to revise this last chapter I submitted, with the group in Nimufu's tower. I was talking with my friend, and he suggested putting in a chapter focusing on Nina's point of view. That was a good idea on his part; I haven't given her much of a chance to voice herself. So I went in, added some of that, left some of the old stuff in, and took some out. I still like the omniscient point of view I had going in The Blackest Witch; I might try and employ it more often. I hope everyone enjoys the changes! As always, reviews are welcome, and thank you for reading! - Joe**

I never thought I'd see her again. She left the Magic School years ago, my tormentor, my nemesis, my enemy. How I hated you, Nimufu! Taking every opportunity to tease me, to torture me, to steal what was mine. Why couldn't you have just left me alone?

Okay. I need to calm down, breathe a little deeply. I am about to start crying. Ladon, Ryu. Why'd we have to come to this tower? But a better question: why didn't I speak up? Tell him something? What's wrong with you, Nina? Always the shy, quiet little bitch. Never taking charge of anything, even your own life, not even when my feelings and emotions and humiliation are at stake.

The tower was classic Nimu-poo: ostentatious to the maximum degree, pink fluffy walls, glittering chandeliers, gold and emerald inlaid floors. Even the statues had on tiaras. I could see Ryu, Sten, and Katt's facial expressions change to horror, and they too made me shake my head in disgust. What a childish adult she had become; no difference at all from those years back in school. The only difference now was she didn't have her gaggle of giggling girls hanging about her at all times. Ugh! How I hated those little sluts. None of them were as bad as her, but they compounded everything and made it all the more terrible.

I had to admit, though, it was interesting to have finally caught up with her. No one thought she'd amount to anything when she graduated; even Yoji, the nicest teacher I ever had, referred to her as a "whorish meathead." Always got a good laugh out of everyone. But she hadn't ended up in the bottom of a canyon and drowned in the Coursair Sea. She had beaten those huge odds of having only half a brain, actually got rich somehow, and was living like a queen. Maybe her powers were better than any of us ever thought!

She hadn't changed much in her clique group, though. Her tower was infested with warpigs, goblins, ghouls, knights hellbent on protecting their beloved witch…basically not too different than the few jocks that Hometown had to offer. What a pitiful town that was! I felt great sympathy for Ryu, having lived there all his life. Save for his first few years, anyway; the poor baby. I really hoped we'd find the thief and figure something out for Bow, but more than anything, I wanted Ryu to find that demon again, find out why his family was stripped from him, and then kill it. Not only did I feel awful for him having to spend his teen years in that pit, but I just wanted everything to work out right. I couldn't help but be attracted to him, in every sense of the word. But would it ever work out? I had competition from Katt. Ugh. And she is just so damn sexy, and she doesn't even try. She's not like Nimufu at all; she was always dolling herself up, dying her hair bright pink, dressing like she thought every guy would like (and most of them did), putting her hands on her hips, walking the right way, talking the right way, everything designed to seduce every boy in school. And it worked, dammit. But it's even worse with Katt – I see the way that Ryu looks at her, and Sten too, and everyone we've come across. Ladon, even Niro, that old fart, had a glint in his eye when he saw her. What the hell am I supposed to? I thought I'd have the bad girl thing working in my favor. Black wings, dark magic, dirty blonde hair…but no one seemed interested. Guess because I'm not a CAT girl or a slutty little WITCH.

I'd do anything for Ryu. Not just do anything to get him, but I will back him and be everything I can be and need to be. I can never lie to myself: I do want him. But if I can't have him, I won't get mad. I've resolved myself not to.

* * *

"You know, Ryu, Nina's concerning me." He turned his intense green eyes to match mine, and he nodded, then sighed. That poor baby. What was Nina's issue, anyway? Bringing all our energy down. I mean, not that I'm into karma and mysticism and feng shui and all that bullshit, but still – there is such a thing as miasma, and Nina was definitely causing it to pervade our party. I didn't like it. But I felt horrible thinking about going and approaching her; I am notorious for my bad mouth and flaming temper, and she looked down enough without me coming and sandblasting her feelings. Ugh. I hate being nice sometimes.

"You should talk to her, Ryu. She needs you. Trust me." A test to him. A risky one, at that. I knew what Nina felt for him, and I can't say I approved of it one bit. But still, I would be able to take him, if I wanted. Nina was beautiful, and she had a very alluring air to her, but I was more so. Hah. I sound so arrogant, but it's true. I've never had any trouble snagging any male I wanted. Just look at Tiga – leader of the most powerful Woren clan the world over and he fell at my feet like a little kitten. But Ryu was stronger than him, I knew that. Even before I knew he was a dragon, I knew his power was enormous. I had to be cautious with him; I'd never tried going for my superiors, but in this case, I really think I would be. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but still – I was used to being the dominant one.

"Soooo, Katt," my annoying simian friend began. I sighed inwardly – everytime I started thinking about Ryu, it seemed, his right hand man popped up and started blathering. It wasn't too bad; I knew he wanted in my pants, but I had absolutely zero desire for him. That seemed to be the case with every female we met, too. I mean, I hate to say, but even the frog boy had more charm than him. Which was pretty damn funny when I thought about it, and I laughed.

He gave me a quizzical look, and I realized that a laugh was not what he wanted to hear. "Tell me, Sten. What's up? How do you feel about storming this tower? It is Nimufu's, after all…" I gave him a helpless shrug. I felt terrible bringing it up, but I was really curious.

He turned his eyes forward and walked silently for a little bit. "Well," he said finally. "I don't know. I got a lot of different feelings for being here. Mostly that burning humiliation, of course. But there's some good in there, too. Good being that I get to finally pound her face in, and/or use my knives on her." He chuckled evilly, a laugh I didn't like one bit coming from him (or anyone, for that matter). He sobered up, though, and became serious again. "I guess it's nothing but bad when I think about it. Just my huge embarrassment, and an overwhelming desire for revenge." He trailed off again, and I could see from my sideward gaze at him his thick eyebrows had furrowed down. Whether in anger, sadness, or a combination of the two, I didn't know. But I chose not to pursue it. He seemed aggravated enough without my help (or hurt). So, in silence, we walked on ahead of Nina and Ryu, who was unusually taking the rear. He almost always came first ahead of us, but I guess Ninaaa wanted his attention. So I made a face at the statue to my right, and continued on our trek with Sten at my side. I knew me and him could take on just about anything by ourselves; we had a very powerful group indeed.

* * *

Darkness fell across the heroes as they climbed higher into the tower. It was a long stretch upwards, and the wickedly nymphomaniac witch awaited them at the zenith. She had not much in the way of true power, physical or magical, but her one attribute that was heightened was potent indeed. It took a strong man to resist her allure. So far, all who had tried had failed, and either been cursed to remain wandering in the lowest depths of her tower or been publicly humiliated. Though there were the few, the very few, who were allowed to take refuge with her in the top room. Sometimes for a night, some for weeks, some even only for an afternoon. But out of the thousands who had visited the tower, perhaps but a dozen had ever been admitted past the ground level.

Nimufu was admired by many, feared by an equal amount, but respected by none. When it really came down to it, what was she but a slut? A very picky slut, but a slut nonetheless. She was hated too, and despised; but not a soul existed in all of Gaia who claimed she was a good person, let alone a good witch. It was a lonely life for her to lead, and she knew this. She spent far more time by herself than with anyone in that high tower room, always trying to hone her meager witching abilities, mixing potion after potion, trying out her spells on her unfortunate minions. But none of it brought any closure, none of it brought an end to her pain and her darkness. She needed something more. But her goals were about to be cut short.

The heroes brought that upon her. Like a streaking, terrible vengeance from Ladon they were: Ryu with his sword shining bright in the darkness, his azure hair flying about, shouting orders like the born leader he was. And what a leader! Valerie's son, the Destined Child, heir to the title of the Dragon Prince. He looked every bit his ancestor, the great warrior who slew Myria with his own team. This incarnate version's group of friends seemed formidable too, led by the ferocious Woren Katt. She was a blaze of energy, the longest champion of the fighting arena in Coursair in its storied history, deadly with a staff, and a loyal friend to all. The black mage Nina was a potent threat too, a quiet, reserved girl normally, but when times called on her, her magic was a sight to behold and a terror on those it struck. And finally the apeish street magician Sten, quick with a dagger and quicker with his mouth. He was determined to make Nimufu pay for bestowing her humiliation on him those months back. He could never live down his friends at Highfort if he didn't exact some measure of revenge. He figured a little knife-play was best in store.

They all had their reasons for battling with Ryu, and all of them, Ryu included, had their reasons for taking down the witch. Mostly it was just to help their new potential friend, the pompous French frog Jean. Sten had his own reasons for fighting, of course, and Nina had her own hidden agenda. She had decided against sharing her story when Sten told his; this would be a secret she took to the grave with her. She had held a grudge against Nimufu since their brief tenure at the Magic School together. One of Nina's great self-defeating concerns about herself was that, at the age of 17, she had never managed to get a proper boyfriend. And she owed much of that to Nimufu, the boyfriend-stealer. Before she was a minor witch, she was a major bitch. Every time Nina had found some guy who was at least partially interested, Nimufu swooped in and stole him from right under her nose. And Nina, poor Nina. She had little powers until the age of 15 or so, and Nimufu, being older, had exerted her dominance time and time again. It was just wasn't right to Nina, but she was helpless; instead, she watched. Watched and grew more and more incensed at this gaily laughing purple haired girl, throwing herself on all the boys in her slutty costumes, knowing that they'd flock to her than the more conservative Nina. The radical Nimufu, the shy Nina. And Nina hated that, and the fury in her spirit towards the lowly witch almost equaled that of Ryu for Barubary. As they say, hell hath no fury…

So it was only natural in that bleak, despairing tower, that Nina should light up the heavens and call forth the rain, the wind, the thunder, and most importantly, of all, the lightning. Nimufu's fragile roof could not withstand even one mighty bolt, and down came a multitude of them, leaving the heroes diving for cover save for one. One black winged fury, standing strong with what she summoned, condensing all her magic into one blistering spell, and sending it crashing down on her former rival in love. A scream, and then silence.

Nimufu was defeated, a near-totally charred husk of her former beautiful self. The tower itself seemed to cry out, and the heroes collectively shivered. Perhaps, they decided, she was more powerful than they thought. But the good news for them was, the tower's evilness, the ogres and warpigs, goblins and ghouls and warlocks, all had disappeared. As they left the blackness behind, a little more solemnly than they entered, they saw that all the human prisoners had escaped. That did a little to boost their spirits.

Things were mostly all good now: the witch was dead (boyfriend-stealer, Nina thought contemptuously), Jean's curse would be lifted, and they could all go on to Simafort to continue their search for the mysterious thief. But the thought of Nimufu's corpse laying on the floor burned a horrible memory in the heroes' minds. For once, they felt like villains, despite the pleasure that Nina and Sten felt. Throughout their journey, they had done their best to avoid killing humans. The only two human like people they had slaughtered, the Joker and Augus, both had turned out to be monstrous demons. But not Nimufu. A nympho and a witch, yes, but hardly worthy of death. This kill weight on Ryu the most. He had seen something in her that simultaneously intrigued and scared him: freedom. An unconscious freedom. Ryu had felt himself pulled to the righteous path since his earliest days, first as the son of a priest then as a ranger. Perhaps, he thought, being the destined child meant having the destiny of one bound to good, and to God. Not that he really minded it; he rather liked being good. And he hated evil – it was his great bane. From the moment he met Nimufu, though, he hadn't felt she was evil – only a free spirit. After all, Nina was a magician too, a witch of sorts. A good witch, yes, unquestionably. But Nimufu wasn't clearly a good or a bad witch…He hadn't wanted to kill her. Nina, though – _what the hell is her problem? Why in Ladon's great and mighty name did she do that! She had no business calling down the elements on an opponent who hadn't attacked yet, who showed no hostile signs toward us. I need to have a talk with her, and soon. That really upset me. I can feel my dragon roaring within me. What power…but I need to control this. I don't want to master me. _

_

* * *

_

Why Nina? Why did you have to kill me? I remember all I did to you, and I'm sorry…I couldn't help it. I was just a selfish girl bent on getting what I wanted, even if it meant stepping on others. And now, it's all gone. My power, my men, my life. I wish we could have been friends. We had so many classes at the Magic School together? Remember all those times we made fun of Yoji, and did spells together, and grew strong together? We could have been fighting side by side now, today!

But alas, it was not to be. And that blue-haired companion of yours! What power he held! Not a bad power, though – I could tell he didn't want to hurt me. Perhaps, if he was not leading your strike force, I would have been able to see him another way.

I just wish I could have told Wildcat to never expect me in the restaurant again! I'll miss all my friends there. You remember my clique, right, Nina? Peaches and Halim and Haruhi and Jeannette? If only they could see how powerful you were now! I always knew you would be a much better magician than me. I saw it in the stars. You were destined for greatness from the very start.

My body is fading away…how did this happen? Curse you, Nina! Why did this happen to me? Why did this happen to me? What did I do? What did…

* * *

I heard one final scream in my mind as we left the tower behind. I winced painfully, gave a look backwards over my hated black wings, and then continued forward, resigned to my guilt, but at least free of her burden. I was right back where I started, it seemed.


	19. Identities

**Identities**

Back in the woods…

We blinked. He goggled. As usual, Kat was the first to break the silence.

"Um…Jean? What the hell? Why in the name of Wurshu did you not tell us you would STILL BE A FROG AFTER WE UNCURSED YOU?"

I had to hand it to Jean, he could pull off looking regal even though he was incredibly flustered; whether he was really a prince or not, he had the mannerisms down pat. Unfortunately for him, he was still just a frog; a frog wearing some thickly mud-coated armor, and with a fierce looking rapier at his side, but still just a frog. I could see why Kat was pissed. We really thought he'd become a humanoid of some sort, but to remain this…hmm. Very interesting indeed.

He craned his neck forward, snapped out his tongue a couple times, and ribbited loudly before beginning to talk (in a lower voice than I expected). "Ahhh! Ryu, and his worthy friends! You have saved me from the clutches of that snake of a witch; I assume only that she is dead now, for I am myself again! Thank Ladon! It's over, it's over. The air, she looks cleaner already without that awful, foul tower's essence pervading." He bowed low to the ground on one knee, his bulging eyes closed out of respect (I think). It was nice of him to do, but definitely unnecessary, and I helped him to his feet after just a moment of that.

"I expect you are a little surprised to see that I am still 'just' a frog. Alas, til what a Simafortian looks like! You have quite the party yourself, Ryu; traveling with a Highlander, a Woren, and…my goodness! Princess Nina! I, what are you doing here? You look as beautiful as ever you did in the gardens of Windia!" He then bowed to her, though she took in his devotion more readily than I did, and he stayed bowed for several seconds before righting himself. "Ahem. We must catch up soon, princess! But please forgive my muddy appearance, as I know it far from befitting a prince. However…" And here he flashed his hand out at us, and there on his third finger (or was it toe? Hard to tell with the Simafortians) sat an enormous ruby ring, as ostentatious as they come. Despite the showiness, I was definitely impressed; I had never seen a ring near that size. From the looks on Katt's and Sten's faces, nor had they; Nina looked a little surprised, but nothing on her face told me that ring had not had its equal in Windia. He continued on after looking happily at our faces. "This is the royal ring of Simafort; I won't bore you with details about its origin as my father is wont to do, but I will assure you, it was handcrafted by the finest jeweler in the land, and is the only true way to tell the prince of Simafort apart from any other royal figure in the land." He stole a quick glance at Nina' black wings, a gaze which did not escape her notice either. She didn't say anything, though, thankfully; I was glad her diplomatic skills could be of such use even to a fellow royal member.

"Monsieur Ryu, mademoiselles Katherine and Nina, and master Sten, please allow me to escort you in the morning to my humble home of Simafort! It is but a short trip, in the middle of this lake. You shall be treated as royally as I, for as long as you wish to grace our courts with your presence."

"Actually, Jean," Nina spoke up. "I hate to be the bearer of such news even before we've arrived at court, but we are on an important mission. Ryu's father and sister have been missing for years, and we're on a quest to locate any information about them; we seem to be getting more clues lately. We're also seeking a thief who has put Ryu's best friend's life in jeopardy. So, I am hoping you'll be of assistance to us, but unfortunately we cannot stay long at your kingdom, splendid as I remember it being."

His demeanor seemed to wilt a little with her semi-rejection. "But, but of course! I knew you would be busy, Nina, as you always are; and I imagined such valiant heroes as to triumph over Nimufu would always be tied up as well! No doubt rescuing other pitiful citizens as myself." Again he bowed to us; I knew he was brought up in that environment, but it was quite a bit for me, and I told him he didn't need to anymore.

Jean's face showed surprise, but he nodded. "As you wish, Ryu my friend. Now, please, let us move on and make camp! The night comes early in these woods, as you might well know, and Nimufu was not the only powerful creature laying in wait." His eyes took on an eerie glow when he said that, and our group was quick to follow him out. After all, these were his lands. I was all right with him being the leader.

* * *

Thank God! That cursed Nimufu was dead. No more having to deal with the thoughts of her taunting, or my utter humiliation at her hand. Now, instead of being known as the monkey she humbled before everyone, I would be known as one of the heroes who had rid the Simafortian plains of her existence. Yes! My dreams are starting to become realized, finally. Now, I just need to focus on two things…well, four things, if I'm being my normal perverted self. I just don't know which one to pursue, Katt or Nina. Both are gorgeous, both are power houses on the battlefield, both are intelligent, they're both charming. Gah! It's so hard. But I know. I'll be a sport, and ask Ryu about who he prefers. I asked him before, but the dope should have a clearer answer by now. There's no way to spend all this time on the long, deserted roads with two gals like that and NOT start to feel some type of affection for at least one.

The night broke quickly, as Jean said it would, and camp was set up hurriedly. Luckily for us, there actually was already a tent set up just a few yards away from the water's edge. There appeared to be no inhabitants, and the ashes from some previous fire were stone cold. Must have been some long-gone hunter. As the wind howled mercilessly around us, and the chilling breeze floated in from the water, I couldn't blame anyone for not sticking around here for long. Unless you were really into fishing, I saw no reason for any souls besides our crazy ones to be out here. Oh well. We had to make the best of it. We had that slightly creepy frog to help, after all! The next day we were going to have to get out there to Simafort, a somewhat diminutive fortress in the middle of the lake, barely cresting over the rippling waters. I suspected there was quite a sight to be seen beneath the waves, though.

After our less-than-roaring fire was built, we all huddled close around it. There was no way I could ask Ryu what I wanted to now, not with the girls and Jean around, but I was determined to find out that night. I needed to. My continuous yet restrained lusting for Nina and Katt was driving me nuts! Ugh. So by the end of the evening, I would have my answer out of my blue-haired companion, even if it meant holding my banana knife to his throat…but it wouldn't have to come to that, surely! Hehe.

To break the silence and calm my nerves, I made the first conversation of the night. "So, Ryu, what now? I know we're going to go check out Simafort for a little while, but how are we going to get out there?"

He nodded and said simply "that boat." I turned to where his head had casually lilted, and my eyes narrowed. How'd I miss that damn boat when it was right there tied up near the shore? I heard the giggles coming from the other side of the fire, and I made a face at the three of them. Stinking Jean! Another member of our party monopolizing my time with the girls. But, it gave me a chance to call Ryu away so I could ask him. I had to know, after all. One way or another, I was going to get with one of those gals, and knowing which one was off-limits would make it a whole lot easier.

"Oh. Duh. Silly Sten, making a fool out of himself as always. Well, I have never been the most observant creature in the land anyway. Glad to have solved the mystery!" I was just talking now to stall, wasting time. I hated I could never just spit an answer out; I had to seize my chance **now**.

"Anyway, Ryu. Come over here for a walk, will you? There's something important I want to talk to you about." He looked slightly confused for a moment, but that quickly cleared and he stood up. We excused ourselves and embarked on a walk; I really hoped he'd get me my answer…

* * *

I sighed deeply. I missed my Jeannie. That evil bitch of a witch! How could she curse my beloved prince like that? The castle seemed empty without his off-key singing, his warbling poetry, his ridiculous suit of armor...I'm not complaining! Really! He always made me giggle. It was so cute the lengths to which he'd go to really act like a knight of old. Ladon knows he did a much better job than his mysterious replacement.

That evil Koratu...or as he called himself around everyone else, Jean. Where HAD this guy come from? It seemed as if my Jean had only been gone for a day before this demon frog had come to take his place. The worst part was, everyone believed him to be the real prince! I woke up one morning, and both mother and father, and I soon found out everyone else, were saying that this imposter was my hubby. It couldn't be. Jean was not nearly so arrogant (or tall), and this imposter was not nearly as poetic, or genteel. How had he been so able to fool everyone? True, they did kinda look alike...but no one should be able to mistake the two! I cursed my parents' and everyone else's lack of vision. The bastard knew I was the only one at court who was not deceived, and he enjoyed lording it over me that my own parents wouldn't believe me.

As I sat applying my daily perfume, I heard a commotion from the downstairs waiting room. When I went downstairs, a shocking sight greeted me. A very wet bunch of travelers had come in, and they were a motley assortment indeed! A human, male, blue-haired, carrying a dangerous looking sword and looking around very much as if he owned my castle. Harumph! The nerve of some people. There was a Woren clansmember too. She looked a little pathetic with her fur matted down and her tail drooping; poor thing wasn't used to the water. There was a Highlander, too! I hadn't seen one of them this far from their home in my life; they were a very aloof and proud race. I only had met their princess many years ago, but she and I had never been even remotely close. This particular Highlander looked a little devilish; I could see from afar a wicked looking knife he had hidden up his cloak. I shivered briefly, before turning to view the last member of their party and crying out in surprise. Nina! Oh my good Ladon, NINA! My best friend growing up; I hadn't seen her winged ass in years! Ahhhh! I had missed her so much. We were the only two princesses who never actually felt like being princesses. Mina was her complete opposite; I liked Mina and all, but she was really not much fun. Too concerned with being next in line and all that. Nina knew how to cut loose and be fun! I hoped she was still the same; I needed something to talk my mind off my missing pumpkin, and she would hopefully help me.

I hung back in the shadows of the throne room, watching and listening as the king welcomed the group, making grandiose displays as usual. My eyes narrowed when I heard Koratu come forward and pronounce himself prince of Simafort. The nerve of that beggar! It took all I had to restrain myself from going out and proclaiming him a liar before everyone.

"Wait…WAIT!" I heard a deep voice escaping the throat of some harried frog, a blur dashing into the throne room, a blur wearing distinctly polished silver armor…JEAN!

"Father, your majesty, King Renier…dammit, Dad! I have returned! Forgive my late entrance; I requested my noble new comrades to make their appearance before me. I trust you received them as warmly as Simafort is known for." Even from my secluded spot, I could see the light shining in Jean's eyes; oh, he was back! And hopefully could kick that bastard out right away!

I could stand it no longer. Before the king opened his mouth to say anything, I burst forth, elbowing past Koratu (making sure to elbow him hard as my sharp arms could) and his entourage, before throwing myself on my handsome husband, covering his surprised face with kisses!

"Jeannie, oh Jeannie! You're back!" I knew I was making a scene, one he'd be embarrassed about, but I couldn't help it. That damned Nimufu had cursed him a year ago; I hadn't seen or heard from him in all that time!

"Oh, Petape, my dear sweet love!" he sang out, returning my affection in equal amounts. "I have missed you like the deserts miss the rain, my darling!"

"Your Majesty!" Koratu's imposing voice swept over my squeals. "Your Majesty, I daresay I know not what this loathsome looking frog believes himself to be doing, bursting in uninvited to your inner sanctum! Why, he could be an assassin for all we know! Look at that rapier." He turned to give Jean a furious look, which Jean returned after breaking apart from my kisses.

"Indeed, father!" Jean yelled in retort. "Who in the blazes of Haertes is this haggard creature standing before me, in his ridiculous attire, poofed out hair, complete lack of fashion sense, and apparent lacking intelligence? Why, he honestly believes not only that the prince of Simafort would carry out an assassination attempt on his own father in the throne room of all places, but with this quite unwieldy rapier as well!" He gave a shout of laughter, which was echoed by a few members of court, but not all. I had a bad feeling for my hubby; the court was Koratu's now. He had poisoned their minds and their hearts with some demonic power.

Indeed, as I was thinking that, the lights in the lamps coming from the glowfish were immediately extinguished. A gasp came up from everyone in the room; idiots! I knew exactly what the cause was. I whispered to Jean to take the visitors to my room, and that I loved him; we'd figure out all this whole mess soon. I had to go, or else I might be implicated with him. The guards might have known me, yes, but that still didn't mean they weren't stupid enough to be fooled by that maniac. As I was making my escape, I heard Koratu yell out, "guards, seize that frog who came in! I am the prince, and he is a scheming traitor!" I yelped, and doubled my running efforts, escaping with the heartbreaking pleas for help Jean called ringing in my ears.

* * *

"Someone bring those freaking glowfish back!" I yelled out hoarsely. "I can't see a damned thing in this room without them. Sten, stay with Jean, Nina, use some of your magic please! And Katt, don't go trying to beat anyone up!"

They grumbled their assent, and Nina got a good portion of the courtroom lit up quickly. The guards had followed Koratu's orders quickly, and had cuffed Jean as he stood motionlessly. He looked over at each of the two amphibious knights. "I can't believe you two. Garland, Ronald – you were my most trusted knights!" Neither of them looked particularly apologetic. He continued shouting at them helplessly, but eventually piped down when it became readily apparent they would not release him from their grips.

I decided to try my own hand at seeing if I could release him. "Guards, please tell me, what has this noble frog done to warrant such treatment? He claims he is the prince of this palace, and he has a ring to prove it!" I pointed at the huge ruby sitting comfortably on his finger, and the guards looked down, uncertainly for a moment, before staring back up at me stonily.

"Little boy, this frog is an imposter," one of them began. "He does bear a ring that resembles that of the Simafortian royal family, but our goodly lord Koratu has the exact same ring! And he has been present in this palace all his life! So I suggest you back off if you don't want to contend with our pikes." After a quick look at them to confirm that they were indeed equipped with those dangerous weapons, I reluctantly backed off, shaking my head as I did. I couldn't believe it! What was the luck of this? The guy we rescue, with all his airs and attitudes and royalish behaviors, is a damn imposter? Ugh! I just hope we didn't get thrown in prison, as he assuredly was going to.

I gave a deep sigh. I wanted an audience with the king to ask if he had heard any news of the thief, but to be granted that audience would likely be overcome, considering I had brought the imposter in. I was just starting to call out to gather my group to me when I saw they had disappeared. _Curses! Where'd they go off to now? Can't they even stay in one lousy throne room?_ I heard Jean crying out as the guards dragged him away, presumably to a cell. I felt bad not doing anything, but the guy deserved it! I'm only a champion for the meekly good, not the abrasively bad. Trying to ignore his piteous cries, I left the throne room from one of the back exits. I had to find my friends.

I found them much sooner than I had expected. Huddled on one of the staircases leading up was Katt, still looking quite pathetic (and yet, endearing) with her soaking wet fur. There were some advantages to her having fur and not having to wear normal clothes, but this was not one of them. I wrapped my cloak around her before she even had looked up to see it was me.

"Ryu! Thank you!" she chattered out through her clicking teeth. "I'm sorry we just left you like that; I didn't hurt anyone, though!" She winked at me. "But the princess of Simafort, Petape, called all of us over after she saw what was happening! She is Jean's wife…our Jean that we rescued, that is, not that Koratu guy. Apparently, Koratu came to the Simafort courts about three months ago, and within two weeks had somehow convinced everyone but Petape he was the real Jean! It was like everyone's memory had been wiped and replaced with this new vision. Jean had been gone by that time for a while, so I am sure it was easy for him to make the king and queen think their son was never returning. Those damn fools," she muttered darkly. "Can't even recognize an imposter when he is standing in front of them. But, we have to help. Nina apparently was old friends with Petape from when they used to cross-kingdom visit; kinda cool, actually. But they're hopefully coming up with a plan together. Petape seems really knowledgeable, and I have a feeling she'll help us just fine. Sten's up in the room already; I thought I'd wait for you so you'd know where to find us." She smiled shyly up at me, which I returned. I never liked smiling at people too much, unless I was laughing; made me feel awkward.

"Well, Katt, thanks for filling me in. Lead the way."

* * *

"Phew!" I laid my tired self down on the huge, comfy bed. I had to hand it to Jean and his lady; they really knew how to live. Simafort itself wasn't much of a palace; Windia was much nicer. I guess it was easier to build in the air than in the water, though. But for what the palace lacked in size, it more than made up for in style.

I propped myself on my elbow to observe the room a little more closely; nothing much of interest. Frogs and Worens don't have much in common, I suppose. At least not in accessories. Not a brush in sight! Damn.

I was quite surprised when Nina ran off giggling with Petape. Apparently they had been childhood friends, best of friends actually! Who would have known. Petape didn't seem particularly magically inclined, so I guess they had some other things in common. I was glad for Nina, but it made me reflect on my own life back in Cot Land. I missed all my friends there, and especially Tiga, my first and only love. I shook my head thinking of him; such an alpha male. I wondered how he was doing there without me. Probably had taken another mate…sigh. I hope not, we had promised to be true to each other while I was in Coursair, and I had mostly kept that promise. But men (and women, I will admit) of any species are notoriously hard to trust.

Even Ryu, over there in the corner, pacing around…he was so mysterious, but so captivating at the same time. What was his past like? We'd all heard about the monster Barubary, about him and Bow growing up together, but what about, what were their names, Ganer and Yufi? What had happened to his father and his sister? And what was up with that huge dragon he had told us about, or the eyeball, or Augus, for Ladon's sake? My old manager had said all that crazy shit about Ryu being the Destined Child, and his St. Evan god having to fear him. Surely Ryu must have known something about all that, if he was who Augus said he was.

St. Evan followers freaked me out. They had such depressing worldviews, and they were the very definition of cultists. That was what unnerved me about that priest Ray; the fact that he could so easily be devoted to this religion that had been the cause of so many problems around the world in such a short span of time. The Woren clan didn't really have a religion, true, but I had still grown up believing in Ladon. Believing in the Dragon God had provided a lot of stability back in my wild, untamed youth. I hadn't prayed to him in many years, I always felt bad for not doing so, but then I never did it. Guess I never really felt too bad, then.

But I digress. I really wanted to know Ryu more, and I definitely wanted to beat Nina in the Ryu sweepstakes. Yeah, I was engaged to Tiga, but so what? My competitive streak was too great to let anyone else win if I could help it, even if I couldn't claim the prize myself. She was everything I wasn't, though I could never tell which of us he liked more. We'd been traveling together for several months now, and he was as reticent and aloof as always. Getting much more than a sentence or two out of him at a time was a challenge. I envied Sten for being closer to him than either Nina or I; it seemed they were always walking along together, laughing and carousing together. And I would bet that once we left Simafort, and if Jean tagged along, he'd also grow closer to him. Sigh. Boys. Always wanting to be with boys. Maybe I should try to be more friendly to Nina. She can't help her princesshood. She actually is a sweetheart, too. Definitely not something I am used to in my life.

I curled up my legs close to my body; this damn palace was cold! And they had no blankets either. My fur was a good insulator, but it failed at times too. If only Tiga were with me…or Ryu..mm._ Bad Katt! Can't be thinking those thoughts now! Jean is still in prison, and we have to find to get him the hell out of there! _I squeezed my eyes shut to block out both of these men, and soon found myself drifting to sleep, with only Jean's sad, lonely eyes filling my imagination. We had to help him!

* * *

"Ahem." All eyes turned to me. I felt good; hell, I felt awesome! I had on my absolute best outfit; this little knockout of a deep red dress, I had had one of my Magic School friends sew it up for me; Deis. I wonder what had happened to that snake-gal. But now was not the time to reflect on the past. I had a king and a court to convince.

Petape and I had quickly come up with a master plan: a cooking competition. From her acquaintance with Koratu, she had come to realize he considered himself an excellent cook, among the very best (which, as she distastefully told me, was far from the truth). And Jean himself had been the best cook in all of Simafort, always called upon even by the head chef to assist in the meal planning and devising. The rest of our plan came easily after I was told all that.

I could feel the stares burning me up as I walked the long, velvet carpet to kneel before the king. The two most prominent looks I felt searching me included the one I was hoping for most: Ryu's. But then, directly beside him, and standing just as tall as he, was Katt. And the look she gave me was one of pure, unbridled jealousy. Poor darling never had a thing like to wear in her life, I bet! Living with that clan of wild beasts. I was certainly glad she'd been able to escape it and make a name for herself. But still…I didn't like that look one bit. She had probably noticed the intensity with which Ryu scrutinized me, but can she blame him? She had no claim over his gaze; besides, didn't she have her own boyfriend? Tiger or something like that? Katt and Tiger. What a pair! What kinda mook came up with these names? I had to hide a chuckle as I bowed low before the corpulent King Renier and began to give my speech.

"Goodly King Renier of Simafort, who so graciously received us into your grand home, we are humbled to be among you and the worthy Simafortians.

"I do not wish to intrude on affairs that some might not consider mine own, but I do believe this does concern me, my friends, and frankly, this entire kingdom. My group of friends and I have rescued a frog cursed by the wicked witch Nimufu, a frog who claimed to us he was Prince Jean de Florette (_I actually got the whole name, nice!)_. When we delivered him here to reclaim his position in the royal family, we were met by resistance, first from the fake Jean, then from the entire court. Jean One (the one we rescued, as he will be known in this speech now) was thrown in prison days after his rescue! What kind of cruel fates govern this world, I ask you?

"Surely, good King, and noble courtesans, you do not wish to allow such a great injustice to be performed, not without a fair trial to the man you once called your son! Jean One proclaims that he is the true prince and this other frog to be a great deceiver, and myself, Ryu, Katt, Sten, as well as Princess Petape herself all stand behind on him on this. The rest of you are divided. With the input of the princess, I believe we have at least claim to an attempt to prove the worthiness of our dear friend Jean.

Jean One has claimed himself not only to be heir to the throne, but the best cook the land has to offer. He has even given lessons to the famous Wild Cat chef himself! Petape has told me that this imposter fancies himself quite the cook as well. No wonder he's been able to pull the wool over your eyes." I allowed myself a single head shake here, but I kept it brief; I couldn't betray their trust in me and make them think I thought low of their intelligence.

"So, in a more civilized version of a duel to the death, there will instead be a cookoff to the throne. There can be no other way; violence is not the answer, and a debate will rage for weeks. In the case of an incident happening to you, O King (and we pray to Ladon it does not!), there must be an heir. With this situation afoot now, that would be impossible to claim. Therefore, I propose this cookoff will take place tomorrow, at six o'clock in the evening, in place of the usual royal meal. The tasters will be Princess Petape, you, King Renier, and the Queen Mother, and the head chef. The participants have as long as they need to gather the ingredients, but their completed dishes must be served promptly by six.

And that dish, as told to me by Princess Petape, is to be fly pudding!" I heard a murmur run through the crowd; Petape had told me the dish was renowned for its tastiness, but I could hardly imagine any kind of food making the Windian court gasp. There had to have been more to it than I knew; but I was only saying what we had gone over.

I cleared my throat before continuing. "I know this might seem a little…basic a test to determine a kingdom's next ruler. However, as we have seen, both Jeans have a royal ring, given to the actual prince on their birthdate. One of them is fake, obviously, but they cannot be told apart by anyone at court. So that method is unable to be utilized. The Jeans themselves look very similar, and not even their parents can tell them apart! This cooking was something that myself and the princess brainstormed last night; for such a frog as Jean, who prides himself most excellently on his culinary skills, as well as this other Jean. Only one can truly be the best cook in the land, though; and this test shall determine which of them proves to be better!

"This test then should prove a suitable challenge. With everything on the line for them, I expect we will see nothing but the best from both Jeans. King, Queen? Do you have any objections to this test? Or shall it be what this court decides to utilize to claim its prince?" I stopped, finally taking a moment to breathe. That dress was tighter than it looked!

It only took a moment for them to decide, though. A shared look, a head tilt and a head nod, and they had come to an agreement. Gotta love married couples. "Then, goodly king and queen, Jean and Koratu, the competition is underway. May the best frog win!" Right. Now the test was set, and it was time to get to work. I had never said anything that we couldn't help Jean with his task…

* * *

"Egads, my friends! Only til 6 o'clock tomorrow to prepare three of the most difficult recipes in the land? Ladon help me! I can't believe I wasn't consulted on this matter!"

We all rolled our eyes at him. "Jean," I said, my tail lashing in annoyance. "You were in jail, your ass was asleep, and you're suspected of being an imposter to the throne. Not really in a position to be arguing for more benefits."

He sighed noisily, waving his short arms and shorter fingers around. We stood in the basement kitchen now, being barred from using the upstairs one. "You're right, you're right, Katt! I can't be complaining too badly. I just haven't prepared this dish for many moons. And now to have to cook it under this duress!" He sighed again. "It's okay. I'll pull it off. I have to; I miss my blossoming Petape, my father, my mother, the cooks, everyone! I cannot believe this imposter believes this to be his kingdom now. Harumph! I'll show him never to mess with Jean de Florrette, joyau de la mar." He took on a (what was supposed to be) fierce pose, and after even he couldn't help from laughing, he turned serious again. "Really, my friends, I owe you so much already from lifting me from that stinking bog. I will serve you in any way I possibly can; unfortunately, I cannot serve from behind bars. And if I fail this task, that is most certainly where I'll be for the remainder of my days; the Simafort courts take treason very seriously. So I implore you, please help me once again. The cooking I will be in total charge of, but the ingredients are a tricky batch. Fly pudding is my father's favorite dish; to cook it requires three key ingredients, all that can be taken from the carcasses of a gold fly and a golden roach, as well as the head of a giant worm. Every one of these creatures can be found in the basement of Simafort. Please, please do this for moi, and I will find it my power to help you in any way possible!"

I must say, he implored us quite powerfully. It was hard to resist a man (or frog) so gallant and in such a desperate situation. We'd only known Jean a mere day, but it had been enough, I thought; after all, I only had known Ryu a couple hours (and after I tried to bash his brains in, mind you), before we got swept up on this epic journey. So I knew I would be in for it our amphibian amigo; from the looks of my comrades, they would be too.

As Ryu looked deep in thought, I decided to take charge for the group. "It'll be our pleasure, Jean," I told him solemnly, flexing hard in some ridiculous macho pose. From Ryu's bemused smile and Nina's derisive giggle, it seemed to have the effect I wanted.

He gave a ribbit, clenched my hands in his clammy grip, and planted a kiss on both of them. "My dearest Katt, thank you for speaking up and saying yes! My heart is filled to bursting with gratitude for you, for all of you! This will be twice you help to spare my life in two days; I shall forever be indebted to you.

"Now." He clapped his hands together quickly, and two assistant cooks scurried over to him. "I am going to start preparing the minor ingredients of the fly pudding. Please return with all three items at once: the gold fly's body itself, the heart of a giant roach, and the head of a Jiltean worm."

"A Jiltean worm? I've traveled all over the world, and I've never heard of that." Sten gave a scowl as he said this; clearly, he had trouble believing Jean.

"Oh yes, master Sten. They are native only to the Simafortian waters; there are several lurking down below, in the third basement floors. But do be marvelously careful! They are enormous beasts. Well over twenty feet high. But, keep in mind. They're blind. Use that to your advantage however you may.

"I ask that you please set off here, my friends. It is vital you leave now to catch these creatures in time to get them back here and stewing. As you can expect, it takes hours for the dish to get prepared just perfectly. And in this case, I need to have as perfect a dish as I have ever." He looked so grave at this point that it made it almost awkward in the room, so we assured him that we'd give our best efforts, that he'd kick Koratu's ass, and that he'd be back with Petape in no time at all.

* * *

"Hey, jackasses! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!" The fly was talking to us! And calling us names. I'd seen a lot in my days as a ranger, but never anything even remotely similar to this.

"Oi!" the little bugger shouted again. "Come and get me if you can! Just know I'll wallop your arses when you do!" He flew off quickly, well out of the range of my sword and Katt's staff.

But not Nina or Sten's magic. I love traveling with mages. They were prepared already, Nina's ring flashing stormily, and Sten mouthing some incantations. "Step aside, Ryu, I got this," Nina proclaimed, rolling her sleeves up in preparation. Before she did so, I had a pang of intuition.

"Nina!" I shouted out. She halted and looked back at me, somewhat irritated. "Don't do whatever you were going to do. Don't use your lightning or your fire or any of that stuff. Remember. We want to kill this fly, but we still need the body for the pudding. We can't have his insides fried out completely. So kill him, or even only maim him if you have to. But don't explode or eviscerate him!" I gave her a stern look to show I meant it.

She nodded, thankfully grasping the importance of what I said and not giving me any attitude. I had noticed lately she was starting to act more like a spoiled princess; I can't say I approved of it. "Wellll, in that case," she drawled, "maybe I'll let Sten take care of it. You know, so we don't have to worry about completely destroying that smart mouthed little insect." She gave a simpering little smile at my simian friend, who had narrowed his eyes at this hedging of his magical talent. I sighed inwardly. For all the improvements Nina was showing, she sure could still be a bitch.

I pulled Sten aside, as I could tell he was seething. The last thing we needed right before this battle was group disharmony. "Sten, don't mind her. You're just as powerful as magician as her. Maybe you don't have the training pedigree that she does, but hey, you're not a princess. You're also not a pariah from your own family. So count your blessings, and go out there and kick that fly's ass."

"Sure thing, Ryu." He didn't look too happy as he said this, and without pausing he went on. "I just hate the fact that she belittled me in front of the group, you know? I have enough problems to deal with trying to win everyone's confidence over, and it stings when she says that kind of shit. I know I'm not the magician she is, and you don't need to lie to me to make it better…though I do appreciate it." He gave me a wink and a clap on the back before turning to face the little fly. "All right, you beggar! Come at me with all you've got!"

* * *

To our somewhat great surprise, Jean was unanimously voted as the winner of the cookoff. Given the way Koratu had had the courts wrapped around his finger until then, we expected the imposter to continue his mastery of them. We knew Petape would vote for Jean, but we didn't expect everyone to! It was a great shock. But after all, we had all busted our rumps getting the ingredients, Jean with cooking it, and Petape with organizing it all.

We had let out a great and mighty cheer when the head chef announced Jean victorious. Finally! I particularly was excited about this. Something actually went right for us without there being a fight or a rescue mission or an extra side thing to do before getting back. But after more than a year on the road, and so many difficult tasks, this was relatively trouble free. The worm was a bitch to deal with, and the fly was annoying as could be, but they were mere roadblocks. With the way it was looking, and with our luck, Koratu would have turned out to be some demonic minion of Barubary. But apparently, he was just one charming frog with a good deal of magical experience. I had thought (and hoped, a little perversely) there'd be another instance of the memory wipe that had occurred in Gate. But, no, it was just a simple spell from Koratu that made everyone think he was the heir to the throne. Petape had escaped, as she told us over and over, simply because her friendship with Nina had made her more resilient to magical influences.

"Ryu, Ryu," King Renier called out to me, somewhat scratchily. We were all gathered in the throne room again, chatting with one another and soaking in the victory. Koratu had been hauled off to the prison cells, where he awaited the deathly punishment that would come his way. Well, we might not have had to face off with him and kill him ourselves, but he definitely would be getting his comeuppance through our help, and it made me proud of my team once again. We had been through a lot together, and I felt sure we had a lot more to go through yet. It seemed we'd never hear catch up with that damn thief! _Bow, I'm sorry…I've been trying all I can, man. Just keep waiting for me. _

The king was now fairly excitedly pointing over to me, and I quickly walked over to kneel before him. "Nina and Petape told me all about about your journeys, and just what you're doing here all the way away from Hometown. Well, my boy, let me tell you something I know you will find most interesting."

I could feel my body start to tense up with excitement. What could it be? "W-what is it, king?"

Chuckling as he did so, he took me by my arm and led me to the royal kitchen. I hadn't been there yet, since we had been earlier barred from entering, but what could possibly be here? Ohhhhh…well, that was unexpected.

In a cage squarely in the middle of the kitchen, with the cooks all gathered about jabbering and pointing, was our elusive thief, stretching out her bat-like wings. And it was my sister.


	20. Separations

Separations

I truly could not believe my eyes. All this time, this past year on the road, our trials and conquests and arguments and friendships had led to this? It had been Yua all along? Impossible! It could not be true…and yet there she was, her blue eyes, so similar to mine own, shining brightly at me through the bars, completing our connection once again that had been broken all those years before in Gate.

I was unable to stand from the pure emotion that swept through me, and I went down haltingly on one knee clenching my stomach. Katt and Nina rushed to my side, and Sten squeezed in there too; it was kind of them to offer their help, of course, but none of them knew yet who she was to me, and their words of comfort and questions just bounced off me.

I finally shook my head and stood up, still slightly trembly. Yua! Ladon…was she feeling the same shock? She didn't seem to register it, but it was really hard to tell with everyone crowded around her. I had to get in there to her. I turned swiftly to my right and leaned into the king's earhole to whisper.

"King Renier, I do request, please order your cooks and all other personnel away from the cage. And if you kindly will too, please leave."

"But, but Ryu…" he spluttered. "This girl was caught red-handed trying to steal our fly soup! We cannot just let her go. She must be questioned, not to mention punished"

"No, your highness, I agree completely. But I know she is a thief; she's been one before, too. She's a girl that I…that my team has been tracking for a long time now. From Hometown through Coursair to Windia and now Simafort. She is not dangerous, though. I can assure you that. I just need to ask her some questions before your guards scare her into silence. Please, allow me and my companions to be alone with her here."

He considered this for a second, his smooth blue forehead creasing downward, before nodding his assent. "Of course, Ryu. I fear for your safety, but if she is as harmless as you say, and as important to you too, then I will not stand in your way. Just don't kill her if you can avoid it; makes a mess my cooks would hate to clean up." He gave me a heavy wink here. Oh, those Simafortians. He turned to leave, but stopped and added slowly, "and before I forget. There will a special ceremony for you and your friends tonight; you will all be the guests of honor at our banquet. Ask Jean for more info on it later; I must return to my queen. I am glad I could help in pointing out this woman to you." He shuffled away, and then actually began to hop. I shook my head with a smile, and turned to Katt. "Will you get the cooks out of here, please? We need to be alone with the thief."

"Ooo, definitely, Ryu," she said with more than a hint of mischievousness. "Send 'em out so they don't see the carnage I am able to inflict on THIS LITTLE BITCH THIEF!" She screamed that part directly in Yua's direction, and to my surprise, it barely made her blink.

"Katt," I warned her, just before grabbing her face close to mine. She gasped and writhed in my grasp, trying to sound out my name, but not getting anywhere. I could see Nina and Sten crouching, ready to help whichever of us might need it, but I waved them off. I leaned into to whisper to her as I had the king. "Don't talk to her that way; that's my sister."

As I let go of her, she fell back from me, dazed, no doubt from my sudden violent action and from my startling revelation. "Ry-ry-Ryu. That's…that's Yua? Your sister from Gate, the one who disappeared and all that jazz? That you've been missing for 10 years? Her? WOW! This is too much to handle; holy Ladon's tail, this day has been insane."

"Katt, KATT!" I shouted at her. "Calm yourself down; yes, it's my sister. The same one from my stories. I'm as surprised as you are, I promise. But please calm down; I don't want to scare her away from either me or you all. That'd be quite the inauspicious way to rekindle a long-dead relationship."

"Yeah, well, not like that could have been helped. I mean, you didn't ask to have everyone in Gate's memory wiped or your sister or dad stolen from you. Don't say dead like you two had a fight!" Her eyes were blazing in a way I hadn't seen since we had fought in the arena: with anger, but also sadness. _Boy, she was passionate about this sister thing; I should ask her about her family. Or maybe it's a sore subject?_

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay, Katt. I didn't mean it in any kind of negative way." I tried to resist hugging her, but considering she was so close I figured I might as well. Strange though it might sound now, I had never actually touched her beyond whenever we fought. It might have my austere ranger upbringing (which taught me to avoid female contact in order to focus on our duties), or it might have just been my own trepidation regarding girls, even if they were Woren and not human (hey, she still had lady parts!). But our lack of tactile connection had never been a point between us, something which we both seemed all right with. I hope this didn't change anything between us.

My hug surprised her as much as it did me, and looking over her shoulder as we did, I saw Sten grinning to himself (guess he thought it finally showed which of the girls I favored; ha! I'd show him. I'd find a way to get Nina into my affections next) and Nina looking a little hurt. Ladon. I hoped my life wouldn't turn into one of those wacky soap opera romances, but with my luck, it probably would. I still had no answer for Sten, or myself for that matter, which of the girls I preferred, or if I had a preference, or even any kind of romantic feelings for them. We'd been traveling together for a while up to that point, but everything had been so hectic with our search to find the thief (_my sister, _I added to myself. _It's going to take a while to get used to that_), that there hadn't been too much time to really establish relationships. Certainly there was no wining and dining going on. Add that to the fact that I had always been a fairly reticent guy, and there was a recipe for non-romance if I ever heard one. I wished my Dragon's Tear could have been more useful in romantic feelings.

The hug was brief, though. I did not want to give her any mixed signals about my feelings for her, or upset Nina, but most importantly, I wanted to get back to my sister. The room was now empty, and all was eerily silent. They had all heard my outburst that the girl in the cage was indeed Yua, and now everyone was just waiting for me to make the next move. It always had to be me; curse my leadership!

I arose unsteadily to my feet and slowly walked to where the cage stood in the center of the room. Directly underneath it was an open pit, full of squirming creatures; cockroaches! I suppressed a minor shudder. Was she so desperate for food that she had taken to eaten those filthy parasites? Noticing her own frail self, it wouldn't have surprised me, but the look of disgust on her face told me my answer.

There was a minute of awkward silence, in which I furiously tried to formulate my thoughts. How should I talk to her? What do you say about 10 years of separation? Thank Ladon, she beat me to the punch. "Well, well," she drawled as I came to her. "If it isn't my dear brother. Here to save me from my precarious situation, I hope? And not just to laugh at me getting myself into yet another mess?" I opened my mouth to protest and to assure her I would never laugh at this, especially not now, but once more she beat me to it and laughed herself. "I'm just kidding with you, Ryu! Don't take it so seriously. Anyway, can you get me out of this damn cage? I'm starving, and those little cockroaches are looking mighty tasty. Or that fly soup I was trying to knick earlier! Think you can grab me a bowlful?" She grinned mischievously at me.

Finally I found my voice. "Yua…it's so good to see you! How did you escape Gate? Where did you go all these years? Why'd you steal from Trout?" _Shit. I didn't mean to ask that yet. Damn my big mouth!_

She gave a small sigh. "I know, dear brother. It's really good to see you too. And I never meant us to be reunited in this fashion, under these conditions, but there's a lot I have to tell you about. A lot that I would prefer to do outside of this little cage those damn cooks shoved me into. And the stealing from that assmunch Trout, well…I'll get into all that later on. It's really a funny story when I think about it. Haha!"

Damn. She hadn't changed a bit. Still so carefree about everything while I was always the serious one. It brought a rueful smile to my face remembering the last time I had seen her, how she had almost gotten killed by that Beak creature before our dad saved our butts. That day, when everything disappeared…she had been the thing I missed most, after Ganer. Even though I did always have to go 'rescue' her from her mountainside shenanigans, or when she was climbing up the roof of the church, or trying to bamboozle the entrance guard, she was still my little sister, my only friend growing up, and I loved her. All the years in Hometown I had spent honing my ranger skills, I had spent many a sleepless night (and restless day) wondering where my family had gone, where Barubary had come from, and why no one in Gate remembered me after I came back from the mountain. It was still the oddest thing I had ever come across; 10 years later and I hadn't found a single clue as to what had happened. Maybe Yua knew something; after all, she was part of the whole mystery too. But I'd come to questioning her in due time; for then, it was a moment of happy rejoicing. And also, I still had to get mad at her for endangering the life of my best friend.

"Not so funny actually, little Miss Bateson," I started. "Your thieving back in Hometown really cost my best friend Bow; he had to end up as a refuge from the law thanks to your boneheadedness!"

She gave a small chuckle. "Whooo, Ryu getting angry. That's a new one on me. Haha." _Damn, I could tell she was going to try my nerves already. _"And I remember him. The dog boy. Listen, big brother, just kindly let your dear sweet thieving sister out of this cage, let me get dusted off, and all of it will get explained. My thieving, my Gate disappearance, and even about our father." She fixed me with a hard stare as she said the last words, and she knew she had me; I was dying to know anything more about our family.

"Fine, fine." I waved my hands. "Sten, pick the lock on that cage, will you?"

Sten, who'd been watching this exchange with quite the bulging-eyed expression, nodded hurriedly. "Sure thing, man! Whatever you say." He leapt forward on his long arms, chains swinging around his furry neck, and deftly picked the lock. It was really handy having him in my party, I had to say.

"There you go, Ryu." He looked uncharacteristically nervous. What was his problem? Hmm. I'd have to ask later. For now, I had my sister to embrace.

* * *

"Maaaaan, Ryu," I said as we were encamped around the fire that night. "Your sister is something else."

He nodded grimly. We were all back on dry land, thankfully. Yua was fast asleep in the lone tent; she hadn't been able to really provide Ryu with any info yet, but none of us could blame her. The morning would bring our answers. Our royal amphibious friend had opted to stay in his castle for the night, and we couldn't blame him a bit either. He had a lot of catching up to do with his wife. Or was she his girlfriend? Eh, Nina'd know. I did not particularly care enough myself to find out. I wondered if he was going to come with us. It'd be kinda cool having a giant frog in our team, but of course, the breathing was always going to be an issue. I had been mulling over that issue for the past hour. How were we going to bring him along?

But Yua! Hoo boy. I hoped she didn't come along, though that might make me seem like a bitch. And I'll be honest – my reasoning was selfish, and simplistic. She was just as dominant a personality as me. With me, Nina, Yua, AND Ryu all traveling together, especially considering that those last two were long-separated siblings, I foresaw a lot of problems in our future endeavors.

Of course, our future was in limbo now anyway. What the hell was going to happen to us? I shivered involuntarily. Ryu had finally found his thief; Bow's name could be cleared, Rand and him were probably done fixing up the old creep's house, and everyone could and likely would go their separate ways…Ladon, I hoped not. I had only left Cot Land a few months before; I was not even close to being ready to returning. I did have the arena to return to if I wanted, I suppose, even if I had been dethroned. But considering Augus' death, and the fact that I had been being controlled by such a demonic entity unwittingly, and so easily, I had little desire to return to that gladiatorial lifestyle.

I belonged out in the open plain, truly. Ryu's shock at my hunting skills just reinforced that. I could survive and thrive out here, battling any creature that dared stand in my way. Nothing could bring me down! And Ladon, I couldn't return to Cot Land yet! Hell to the no. Tiga could just keep his happy hairy butt waiting for me. Above all, there was magic. Magic and, as much as it pained me to admit, Ryu were those things keeping me wishing our band would never break up. I had been interested in magic since before I could roar, but I never had had any training of any kind, a fact I bemoaned constantly. Now I was traveling with two full-fledged magicians (okay, Sten wasn't much of one, but still, he had more training than I); I knew I could wheedle some form of teaching from either of them if I tried. And I wanted to; I felt it burning inside me. I knew I had the gift – I just had to learn how to tap into it. Swinging my cat's claw staff my whole life had built up my arms and my physical strength, but I wanted the elements at my disposal too. Seeing how easily Nina had shifted the tide at the Joker's hideout, or even in the bottom of the well, made me yearn for that power. No matter how big or strong I got in my warrior training, I couldn't do what she did, not in a million years. And I would never find that power if this band broke up yet. Never. We had to stick together! I didn't give a good damn if it was for selfish reasons; I had nowhere else to turn to in order that I could find happiness. And all I ever wanted was happiness. How to manage to actually find it was the key. But I knew it could only be found traveling the world, and letting the winds and waves guide me where they may.

"Listen up, everybody." Ryu's commanding voice immediately snapped me out of my reverie. "A lot of important things – hell, even life-changing things happened today. But I have some more important things to discuss with everyone here before this night is over. Namely, what in Ladon's name we will do with both Jean and Yua? I have my own opinions on both, but I'll leave it open to discussion before putting my own input. Katt, would you like to begin?"

How could I resist when he asked me to do anything? Dammit, Ryu. I hate voicing this kind of stuff out loud, but I guess I had to. "I think we should keep them both!" _What the hell was I saying?_ "Jean can definitely be a handy person in a fight, plus he's royalty! And your sister's thieving skills could definitely come in handy." I could tell from Ryu's annoyed look I had said the wrong thing, so I finished lamely, "well, I'm sure she'd be good in a fight too?"

"Oh for Asgard's sake!" Nina snapped. "**I'm **royalty, Katt. We don't need another person like me around to do any party tricks or get us out of any hot mess we encounter. He's an oaf, and I hate him!"

We all turned to stare at her for the outburst. She flushed red. "Ummm…sorry." She took a deep breath. "I just knew him growing up, and I never was much fond of him. Always lusting after me when he had Petape to go to! He could never have gotten me if he had tried, but Ladon knows he did, every time we visited Simafort. Even my magic threats didn't phase him a bit. He just kept trying to win me over with his ridiculous accent and promises of wealth and power. 'The conjoined kingdoms of the wind and the waves,' I believe were his old words. But, being the proper lady I am, not to mention one of taste, I refused his every advance."

I had to roll my eyes; thankfully the shadows kept me hidden. She was so full of herself. Did she really think she'd turn Ryu onto her by being an arrogant little ass? Huh. She had a lot to learn about people outside her stupid city.

"So no, Ryu. I personally will not stand having Jean de Florette in our party. I love Petape, and yes, I slutted myself out to get her husband his pardon, but that was just so she could be happy again, and so that he could be out of our hair! I *definitely* do not want him joining us in any further missions we might have. So there!" She folded her arms across her chest, looking every bit the spoiled princess archetype I had loathed reading about in books growing up. This was going to be trouble.

Ryu, for the first time in a long time, actually looked flustered. "Um…that was unexpected, I must say, Nina. I had no idea Jean was that way to you. He seemed a little too regal to be a womanizer. But people (and frogs) can surprise you, I suppose." He gave a deep sigh. "Well, let the record show that our princess does not want a prince joining us. Sten, what say you on the matter?"

Sten looked up from absentmindedly poking the dirt. "Huh? Oh. About Jean. Man, Ryu, I don't even give a damn, to be honest. Let him come, I say. He seems like a cool guy, though his cooking is not quite up to my tastes."

"WHAT?" Nina interjected loudly. "After all I just said about how I will not stand to have him? Sten, are you even paying attention to what's going on? Do you care about my feelings or the well-being of this group?

He gave her a bemused look. "No, Nina. Not really. I was really fascinated by these ants. Were you saying something important?" _Oh, I love you, Sten. You're a creep, but I love you anyway. _

As Nina started seething out of control, Ryu stepped in once again. "Nina, calm down! Sten was just voicing his opinion; he**should **have been paying attention," and here he directed a glare at Sten, who just gave a cheesy grin and shrugged. "But he wasn't. No sense in getting angry at him yet. It was not my intention for this conversation to cause any kind of divide in our group. Obviously, not everyone will feel the same way; we have four people's opinions on two separate individuals, so we just gotta make this work as best as we can, people. For Ladon's sake, we've been traveling together all this time with no problems, and NOW we start arguing? Come on. Let's pull it together."

There was a muttered sign of agreement from Nina, and Sten nodded blithely (he must have had his mind far away that whole night - he was normally so much more joking). Our azure-haired leader gave another sigh and stared off into the blackness. Or so I thought at first; a closer glance revealed he was gazing lovingly at the tent where Yua lay, hopefully still sleeping. I had to smile at that; I never would have suspected he would have that soft side.

"Now all of you have had your say in this matter. Nina, you're the only one opposed to Jean. I noticed that only Katt had any input on the matter of my sister. So we'll need to come back to that. Personally, my vote is to let Jean stay as well; he can even breathe on land somehow, so that's not an issue to figure out, thankfully. So, sorry, Nina. But unless Jean does not want to accompany us, he is going to come along." I saw her little mouth turn downward and her start to pout, and it made me smile to myself. Ah, I was bad for liking her pain; but it was funny!

"But going on, everyone, my sister is next. She has so much left to tell me, and I think, tell all of us, about what has happened in my past, the 10 years I missed out on, my father, Gate, everything that is a mystery to me might finally be solved with her help! So…"

I couldn't help my silence anymore. I was burning to know. "RYU!" I yelped out. He turned to me, as did Sten and Nina, completely shocked. I was immediately nervous; I hadn't been thinking about what else I was going to say. "Ahem, well, Ryu. Sorry about interrupting, but I have to know. Before you go on, and we make more votes and what not, I gotta ask. What is going to happen to us? Where are we going from here? You are talking and asking about them 'coming with us,' but where are we going? Just back to Niro's and then leaving? You found your thief, who also just so incredibly coincidentally happened to be your long lost sister. Which, by the way, I am SO happy for. Anyway, we got Jean back to his rightful position in Simafort. Sten, you beat the witch, you revenged yourself. Nina, well…Nina, I imagine you only came on this trip in order to help Ryu find the thief. So what's left for you now? Where are we all headed?"

I heard Ryu muttering something that sounded like "Ladon help us." I felt guilty for my outburst, but it sounded like we were all doing it.

I boldly continued on, taking a deep breath. I had a lot coming. "I mean, I don't want our trip to end! I am having way too much fun. Well, don't get me wrong; it hasn't all been fun and games. The death and murder and treason is never a fun part of anything. But I love being with you guys. I've really learned to care about you, in ways I never had before. Nina, Sten, Ryu, and even Jean. There's an incomparable feeling being out with you all. Don't think I am just some ditzy bitch, though! I know the gravity of the trip. I know the hell that Ryu has gone through, and that too which poor Bow has been put through, that awful situation thanks to Yua, and everything else. Hell, I helped kill my old boss when he transformed into a demon dog in front of my eyes! I know the trip has not been anything resembling pure unadulterated happy times. But I just don't know what to do. We've fulfilled everything we have needed to. Just…what's going to happen to us? I don't want us to just leave here, go back to Windia or Hometown or wherever, and just never see each other again." What. Tears? Where on earth did those spring from? Damn, maybe I was more passionate about that group than I thought.

My words seemed to have had at least some effect on the group. Nina looked quite sad herself, on the verge of tears, and Sten was glancing around and down at the ground uncomfortably. Ryu, of course, seemed mostly nonplussed, and was the first to offer any kind of response.

"I know, Katt. I know just how you feel. Truth is, I don't know what else there is to do either. We have located the thief, I found my sister whom I never thought I would see again, and everything seems peachy. But as with you, I do not want this story in our lives to be done yet. I spent a decade in Hometown, wasting my life in trivial pursuits. I enjoyed my time there to a degree, but I always knew the world had a lot more to possibly offer me. Even the circus that sometimes camped outside of Hometown fascinated me; it offered this tiny glimpse into a world I was unable to see while inside the walls of the city. I needed out; and by Ladon's grace, I got out! Yes, it took an unlikely and unfortunate situation for it to happen, but just because that situation can now finally be corrected, and Bow's name restored, I cannot fathom just going back to our old lives. Perhaps, you, Nina, need to return home to Windia. Or you, Sten, back to Highland? Or even performing on the road again. You're a talented guy, I'm sure you can make it work whatever you do. I can't speak for you all; but Katt, I am all behind you. I am not ready to return to Hometown. Matter of fact, I don't think I ever will be. Bow, who knows about him. We'll find out soon.

"I have this in mind as a little plan of action we might be able to follow. I want to head back to Niro's, obviously with Yua in tow, show her to Bow, clear the air, and then…shit. That's where it gets hard. I can't take her to Hometown and turn her in; no way! I love Bow, but this is family. Family I just met with again." And here he looked so unbelievably sad I felt a wave of emotion sweep through my own body. "Of course, I still want to clear his name. So I have no idea what to do. If this was anybody at all but Yua, I wouldn't think twice. But it is my kid sister, so…ideas, anyone? What should we do when we get to Niro's?"

Damn. He had asked a good question. Whatcould be done in this case? I hated that Bow had been banished for something he had not even done, but to save his citizenship at the cost of Yua's long-term prison-free future was something I could not do. Hmm…

"I got it, Ryu!" Sten shouted excitedly. "Just swap 'em!"

Ryu's handsome face registered confusion. "Swap them? Sten, I just said that I did not want to do that!"

"No, no, Ryu man. Sorry, didn't mean swap. I meant, let's get back to the old coot's, meet up with your friends there, have drinks all around, get back to Hometown, with your sister AND Bow coming along, and in the middle of the night have her sneak back into the house she robbed, replace the treasure, and skedaddle back to the camp. Then in the morning, old Trout will wake up and see the treasure right back where it belongs! He'll make a public announcement, and your boy will be cleared, and your sister not arrested!"

Comprehension and glee spread over Ryu's face all at once. "I think you're onto something, Sten! And Herb, the gate guard, knows that Bow has been out of the city for a while now, and so if the treasure was restored, he'd know, and let all the other guards know, Bow couldn't have done it, and that it was someone else in Hometown. They'll never in a million years suspect or know of Yua, and so everything will be okay!"

"Yeahhhhh, Ryu. That might be true, you know, if I still had the treasure." A black shape with Yua's sarcastic tones seemingly materialized out of nowhere, launching itself quite cozily in between myself and Sten.

I really thought Ryu was about to have a heart attack. I had never seen his eyes bug out so wide. Apparently neither had Yua, who actually looked very concerned for a moment before breaking into laughter.

"I'm just messing with you, bro! Had to see how you'd react. I know how important this treasure is to you; well, now I do. It is damn lucky for us all I didn't sell it like I wanted to before. Easily would have fetched a few hundred gold pieces for it." She shook her head, and for a moment, I really believed she was sorry she hadn't done it. What a little bitch. I was so glad Ryu wasn't like her; I never could have liked him then. But as it stood, I liked him far more than I cared to admit.

"I heard the monkey man's plan, though," she continued. "It sounded solid to me. I already got in Trout's house once before, I can do it again no problem. That little toad will never be expecting me again. Hah! Even if he did, he'd never be able to catch me. It sucks to have to part with this little crown of mine, but for your sake, big brother, and for your friend's too, it'll be my pleasure. Besides, all the money I need I can just bum off of you guys!" She gave us a heavy wink here before casting her eyes to look intently at the ground. Ladon, I wasn't sure if I was beginning to like her or if she would drive me nuts.

* * *

I shook my head. Those little ants had nothing in life guiding them except their own instincts. Why couldn't life, our lives, start and stay as simple as theirs? To just lend ourselves to abandon. I had, after all, for so long. When I found myself separated from my dear brother and my beloved father, and even more, from the dragon, I could hardly bear to live. I was a child, I was five years old! It's hazy in my memory, what happened exactly after that last day. Ryu was there, and suddenly he was gone, everything was. Ganer, the dragon, Gate itself all seemed to have vanished! Some kindly priest found me, escorted me to his church, somewhere completely unfamiliar. What was his name? Ah, yes. Habaruka. And of course, Ray, his son. Despite his calm demeanor, Ray frightened the piss out of me; he could be intense and very menacing when he wanted to be. He was very interested in knowing about Ryu, but I never had much to tell him. Well, I did, actually; but he never wanted to know my information, about what Ryu liked for breakfast or how many times Ryu got in trouble every day. Hah. No, he wanted to know mysterious things, words I didn't comprehend at seven, about power and destiny and dragons and a God. Words I still have trouble recognizing the significance of.

Ryu was just gifted, though. Far more than I ever could be; though to be fair to myself, I never heard or saw him interacting with the dragon like I did. For me, that was my consolation, my comfort, my one advantage over him; my mother had been killed shortly after I was born, and going to the back mountains and meditating near the dragon provided me the only way to hear her voice again. That was what I had missed most about my life in Gate…Mother. Dearest mother. She probably would not have been very proud of me then, with my thieving ways and the ridiculous outfit and my tiny wings. Her wings had been so regal! I never could get enough of nuzzling into them. But me, I was almost a full grown woman and the wings barely extended a foot! They were of a hard, jagged beauty, I thought; nothing at all like the princess's soft feathery wings. Those were beautiful and luminous; mine were veiny and demonic, certainly none that an artist would want to capture. At least not a sane artist.

I digress, though. My wings are not truly important. The church life had never truly appealed to me, and certainly not the St. Eva church. One day, after a few years, I just left. Walked right out; no one there gave any kind of attempt to convince me to stay, not Habaruka, Ray, or anyone. They knew what I had to do, and even blessed me with their holy powers before I left! I couldn't believe their generosity. For that, I will never forget them.

Beyond the blessing, the best advice they had given me was to keep to myself, trust no one, and learn every survival skill I possibly could. I had to learn quickly; I had had no idea where I was going, or even where in the world I was (I didn't even know the name of the town I stayed in, just that its church was massive). Never once did that deter me, though. I fed in the forests when I needed to, spent many a night high in trees, but I didn't settle for anything. I didn't let myself get wrapped up in mediocrity, as it appeared Ryu had in Hometown. The moon, the stars, the lamps in a room, the slice of a blade whistling through the air, the gleaming jewels in a house, the fat purses on people's hips, everything about thievery and the dark and what I could gain from embracing both appealed to me so greatly. I had always known I had the skills necessary for such a life; after all, I had always been able to steal away from the watchful eyes of my father or Ryu, anytime I wanted at all. They always found me out, but only because I let them. It got boring never being caught time after time. Besides, being put in timeout gave me more of a chance to go see the dragon.

Which is why I was so scared of my skills possibly eroding. I had been so stupid to get caught in that simplistic trap in the Simafort kitchen; any rookie thief would have evaded it. But for some reason, I was not able to; was it my exhaustion from hunger? Or perhaps my subconscious knew Ryu was close and wanted to get near him again? Come to think of it, I had recently had a dream with my mother's voice resounding in it, but I couldn't remember its message when I awoke. Only that it was there, urging me on in some manner. To find Ryu? With him coming back into my life so suddenly after 10 years, and so close in proximity to my dream, I had to admit it was very plausible.

It just scared me to have to tell him everything I knew of our father…

* * *

"Going back to what we had been talking about before my dear sweeeet little sister here interrupted us." I gave her a huge smile, but I made sure everyone there did not mistake my sarcasm for sincerity. "Ahem…I am staying on this trek. I cannot go back to Hometown. Not just because it offers me nothing, though of course that's a big thing. But because of my power. This great and awesome, but all of all, mysterious power that somehow resides in me. Ever since that day at the shaman's little house, the one I completely destroyed, to be frank, I have been burning with curiosity to know just what in the hell I have! I cannot explain it, other than that it is a dragon inside me. But that's the obvious. I mean, where did it come from? Why is it in me? When will this voice, this eye quit talking to me? I have to know." I shook my head violently to clear it. "And I know I will never find out why if I remain at home, or even with the Rangers still. I would love for Bow to come with me, though that's something we'll have to ask him when we get back to that side of the world. For now, though, I offer the choice up to all of you: would you like to continue to accompany me in my journey for my own identity? That sounds mighty selfish, now that I say it. Hah. But of course, I would hope for all of you to come on the journey for your own self-interest too. Just doing it for my sake, for the blue-haired weirdo, seems stupid. No offense intended to any of you if you actually were coming along just for me." I gave them one of my patented winks. "If anyone here, EXCEPT for you, Yua, wants to leave the party to go back to their homes and lives before this crazy adventure started, by all means, go ahead. I will not stand in your way." Here my sister made a face at me, but I had to stand firm; she had too many answers still locked away in her, and I needed to know them all.

Barely had the words escaped my lips when Katt lept to her feet, her staff clenched tightly in her hand (or was it paw? Dammit, animal-human hybrids could be anatomically confusing). "I'm staying with you, Ryu!" she nearly shouted. "The arena is dead to me, I have no true home to go back to, and I have so much to learn from you, from Sten, Nina, Jean, even Yua, and the world in general! It's not quite time yet; I'll have my chance to grow old and grey-furred in Cot Land, but when I do, I want to have the memories of this time to look back on. And I want to keep building on those memories, and not just abandon them quite yet. So, you aren't getting rid of me just yet. I'm with you to the end."

I was not expecting to be so touched by her answer. But, as I should have expected, before I could respond, Nina was close on her heels, determined not to be shown up (or so I imagined). "Yeah, Ryu! I can't stand Windia anymore. All those arrogant asses walking wildly all about. Ugh! It drives me up the wall." She tossed her middle finger in the general direction of Windia. I saw Katt smirk at her gesture; I almost had to hide my smile myself. Nina wasn't a bad girl at all, which made her finger all the funnier. But, her arrogance could certainly border on overbearing at times. She had to learn about casting the blame on others and taking responsibility for her own self. Well, maybe this trip would help her. I could only hope. If she was going to stay after all, she'd need to start changing a few things about herself.

A grumble was muttered from somewhere about a yard up off the ground; Sten had come up beside me, taking in all the semi-dramatics of the evening with his usual aplomb. He caught my eye and his own glistened slightly. "Women, eh, Ryu?" He gave a sarcastic chuckle. "They just always have to one-up the other when they're fighting for the alpha male of a group."

I decided to play dumb for a second. "The alpha male? And who's that between us?"

A glare was directed my way for a half-second. "Sometimes you're a dick, Ryu. Much as I love to fantasize about it, though, I know I'll never have a chance with Nina and Katt. Hell, if super-skank Nimufu still wouldn't give me the time of day, I know I got a ways to go before I can get anywhere with anyone, especially these two.

"So yeah. If that's what you wanted to hear, there it is. You're the alpha male of our little duo here. Whooo. But I promise, Sten _ will get some soon!...I just don't know how."

I shook my head sadly at him, but I forced my voice to sound hopeful. "Sten, I know you've had some hard luck with the ladies before, but the past doesn't necessarily dictate the future! You can't just give up. We gotta work on your image and your attitude, and when you change a bit, you'll be golden!"

He looked off into the distance pensively. "See, Ryu,I never bought into that whole 'pretend to be who you're not' crap. I think I need to be my plain old monkey magician self, and if that doesn't get me anywhere with these two, so be it! There's plenty of other females around. Especially…" He cut himself off quickly here, but my sharp eyes caught the glint of a smile beginning to form around his hard mouth.

"Steeeeeennnnn," I drawled out teasingly. "Whooo is sheeee? Why haven't you talked about her?" I started poking him in his stomach, drawing a growl and a quick knife flash from his nimble fingers. I instantly stopped, but still hopped all around him. I had been put in such a good mood by so many things lately, and his saying he actually had a lady friend of sorts only added to my ennui. But that little bastardo hadn't even shared any details of her with me before! I had to pry it out of him somehow.

But before my mind had to go racing to any strange places, Sten saved me the trouble of forcing it out of him. "Look, Ryu, she's just this girl back in Highland. The princess, if you absolutely have to know. I realize I've never talked about her before, but I just like keeping my private life hidden. So, sorry about that. I've known her since we were kids; before I even really knew she was a princess she was my best friend. Always running around, terrorizing the guards, playing tricks on Trubo, and teaching each other the best magic tricks we could come up. It was the best time a young Highlander could have ever enjoyed." He gave a happy laugh here, one that surprised me to come from his mouth. Though I enjoyed his company, Sten was the least of us to be prone to any kind of joyous outbursts. _I guess he really does care for this princess of his. Who would have ever imagined this old perv had such a soft side?_

"I haven't talked with her in so long, though." All the happiness had instantly vanished from Sten's voice, and I could practically hear a morose bell clanging in his head. "After that day when I left…no, when I was cast out. That conniving ass Trubo set me up! Curses, why did we have to tease and torture him so? The little fun and games I had at his expense in our youth ruined me, it RUINED me, RYU! I lost Emilia, my honorific of knight, my home, everything. All for a stupid grudge that little bastard Trubo held from so many years ago. And now he is with her. Or at least I think so…no matter if he is or not, **I **am not with her, and that is pain enough considering how close we once had been. Marriage was always out of the question, with her royal birthing and all, but we always talked of running away together. She did have a sister, so it's not like the kingdom would have fallen into total ruin. Heh. But we never had a chance to get that far, and now, here I am, traveling with you and the gals. Don't get me wrong, I love being out here with you all! But when it comes down to it, I know my heart will forever belong there in Highland." His eyes turned to the southeast, and even without knowing where his mountainous home was exactly, I knew it was out there in that direction. If only it wasn't so far from Homeland and Niro's place! Decisions, decisions…what to do, what to do?

And then I knew what to do.

* * *

With a jaunty salute, I turned back from my companions towards the direction of the vast fortress of Highland. I was in a mix of emotions regarding my suddenly solo trip back home. Relief was chief among them. I had enjoyed being on the road with all of them, Ryu especially (I had finally found a guy I could pal around with, instead of running around aimlessly chasing lasses, something Mom had always hoped for!). Even before that, just doing the whole traveling starving magician gig was a lot of fun, but it wasn't quite as successful as I was hoping. I had been away from Highland for 10 years, and every night when I slept, I still imagined how imposing the towers had looked. Never a beautiful castle, but one designed to invoke fear and respect. And to my young mind, nothing did that quite so well. It was time to come back.

I was so glad Ryu had offered me the chance to take a leave. I had not realized just how much I missed home, and especially Emilia, until I had been talking with him that night. Ladon, as strong as I tried to be with everything, as hard as I tried to be this badass who didn't care and only wanted to chase random gals, I still missed her so incredibly much. She was the one I really wanted, had cared for all those years. I had slipped once, with that Cot Landian whore, the girl who had so achingly looked like Kat (and probably explained my huge attraction to her). The whorish Woren, heh. Oh, she hated that name.

But I could never get the idea of my beloved princess with my enemy. Were they even together? Grrr…I didn't know. I'm sure she would never be with such a scumbag, at least willingly. But Trubo had a great deal of influence now in the castle, last I had heard. Court vizier, if memory served. He got to be around her all frigging day, a fact which caused me no end of remorse. And yet another reason why I had to get back!

I slowly rotated back around to face the direction my friends had set off, back to Mt. Fubi and Niro's shack. Well, I'm sure they would have fun without the crazy wild monkey slowing them down and making stupid jokes and what not. Ryu deserved some alone time with his sister, anyway. Anddd with Katt and Nina. I laughed to myself. Sexy as the both of them were, I had my own fish to fry, and I had just wished him luck with them before I departed, giving a sly wink as I did.

My only hope was that they would want me back in time. I'd be damned if I didn't say I already felt a longing to be back with the group. Ryu had been right, we had pretty much completed what we'd set out to do, but there was that mystery hanging over his head, and in effect, all our heads. He was a bad ass, no doubt, and a great leader for our gang. But we all wondered just what in Ladon's name was he, anyway. And how did that shamaness bring out his power? Hmm…there were so many questions that needed answering, none of which I could answer myself by going back home. But they didn't matter then, though; my own questions of life and love could only be answered by returning home, finding out what happened in the decade I had been gone. I'd stay for a little while, then head back on the road. We agreed to meet in Capitan in precisely one month; I'd have to book it if I wanted to make it to Highland, get my girl back, and travel to them in that time frame. I silently thanked Ladon for granting me long arms as I started making my way through the grassy fields. As I was running along, I looked down to make sure I still had my trusty banana knife strapped securely inside my vest. It was there as always, covered up by its worn out scabbard. They had both been presents from Emilia just before I left. I remembered it well: just past one A.M. on a cloudy night, a normal night by any stretch except for my decision, on the highest rampart, both of us staring at each other in silence, our eyes wet but no tears falling, she giving me the knife, covered in the plain brown scabbard, our fingertips brushing for the last time, and then a swift kiss and a leap over the edge for me. I loved her for getting me that ordinary covering when she had the wealth of the kingdom at her disposal. I loved her for everything, actually…With that sudden re-realization, I began hurrying even more. A few more hours' difference would not surely be substantial, but I had to see her right then. Ten years had passed far too quickly without me even realizing it'd been that long, and now it was time to try to correct every mistake I had made in leaving her behind. I only hoped I could still win her back. _Trubo, my old enemy_, I thought grimly. _I will see you soon. And for your sake, I hope you have not tried anything with our dearly beloved princess. Or else I might have to put this knife to use once again._

* * *

"Ohhhhhh, Ryuuuuu!" my sister's annoying singsong voice came floating from the back ranks, grating hard on my already worn-down nerves. "How much further til we get there? I mean, damn! We've been walking steady for three days. Can't expect a poor wee little girl like me to just be able to walk like your oafish self. Hehe."

As calm as I could normally be, I was seething by now, and I wasn't the only one. I could practically feel the collective hate in Nina and Katt rising to near boiling levels. I quickly flashed the Dragon's Tear out and checked both their emotional levels; both were dark green and heading toward black fast. Shit. I had to correct that before everything I had been working for got destroyed right when we were on the precipice of clearing Bow's name.

Unfortunately, it was just me handling them alone. I had allowed Sten to return to his homeland to reclaim his lady's hand, and Jean had stayed in his watery kingdom to reestablish his foothold in the royal courts. After all, he had been away for a good long time. I had been sad to say bye to him a second time, and this time seemed far more permanent. He had had tears on his slippery face as he hugged me. "Ryu, you are a most brave soul," he assured me. "Peace and happiness shall be with you, of this I am sure." When I had told him we'd found my sister, he clapped his hands together and sighed happily. "Such happy times this is for you! And now you will find your father. Or at least, I hope you shall. And bring those pretty lady friends of yours back alive and well, eh, Ryu?" He gave me a little jab in the ribs accompanied by a wink. "Hate to lose out on them..or you, of course! Heheh. But please, give them my and Petape's warmest regards. And come back soon! We want to hear how you found your father, discovered your powers, and hell, maybe even saved the world. Something tells me that you have a veryyyy special aura about you, my friend." I nodded thankfully, and bowed low to him, a gesture he returned. "You have my eternal gratitude, Ryu Bateson. You saved me from a most terrible fate, a most horrendous curse. Worse than being stuck as the giant frog, I was separated from my father, my Petape, and my people. I'd have gone mad before long. You saved me..." He bowed to me here, all the way down to his knobbly knees, and knelt there for a good minute. Rising back up, he tapped me on both shoulders with his rapier. "I hereby proclaim you Sir Ryu Bateson, and give you the honorary title of Simafort Knight. Wear it well, and see us soon. Good luck, Master Ryu." I clasped hands with him, said my own words of thanks, and departed his presence.

All these thoughts tumbled quickly through my head, but sadly, they couldn't stay for long. A continued squabbling from behind me was driving me slowly insane. I turned back swiftly, my cloak flashing up over me. Ladon, I hated it when the group got rowdy. As the only guy now, this trip was being made doubly hard. Three against one odds are hard in any battle, but when it's my sister, Nina, and Katt all teaming up, the results could be very bad indeed. It was time to bring down the thunder, though. They had pushed me too far.

"KATT! NINA! YUA!" At the sound of my voice, magnified as loud as I could make it, all three stopped dead in their tracks, and finally, for once, mercifully shut up. Yua had a look of respect in her eyes I'd never seen, not even growing up. I fought the urge to wipe my brow. Half the battle was done; now I had to finish it.

"Guys, girls cats. Whatever. You're all mixing in the same way to me anyway. Ugh. Sorry." What the hell was I saying? Come on, Ryu, just spit it out already! Their quizzical looks made me stutter once more, and then I began confidently.

"People, we're half a day's trek from Niro's. I have had to deal with your stupid shenanigans for the last several days on the road. And let me assure you, despite my stoic attitude, it has NOT been easy. There have been times these last several days when I have wanted to slap each and every one of you all in the mouth, and hard at that." A slight gasp arose from Nina, whilst Katt and Yua both looked fairly bemused. Well, they weren't used to hard ass Ryu, but he had to make an appearance from time to time.

I continued glaring at them for a moment before continuing, just as angrily as before. "I know this trek has been hard on everyone, especially since we've had to hurry so much, but just keep in mind, once it's over and we're over the mountain, we can take a break! Physically and mentally. Yua especially, you won't have to worry about being caught anymore. We'll rest at Niro's, I might help Bow and Rand fix the place up if they still haven't finished, and we'll hold a group meeting to decide who wants to go and where we might be headed next. But that won't be til the last night. We can relax for a bit, I promise. Just please, let us get there in one piece. And in that meantime, your smart mouth, Yua, and you two's constant bitching and fighting, Katherine and Nina, needs to stop. I mean that. Not to mention all three of you need to get along better or this entire thing is going to go kaput. I've seen your emotions on my Dragon's Tear. And let me tell you all." I paused here and slowly looked each of them in the eyes. "They aren't looking good. So I expect you to shape up or just get out. Nina, I'm sure you'd be welcome back at Windia. I know how much Mina misses you. And Katt, that Tiga guy you've mentioned before must be dying to know what happened to his little feline princess." I was pulling a little dirty trick, getting them to remember the lives they left behind, and it was working. They were visibly shifting uncomfortably, and finally not even Katt had a comeback for me. I turned back to face the front, closing my eyes as I did so. _Okay, you did good, Ryu. You let them have it without being too harsh. Just like a good leader needs to do sometimes. Now, we just gotta pass through Fubi and we're there! You can take it easy, hang with Bow, drink a beer with Rand, not worry about finding your sister or your thief anymore. And also too, that reminds me…_

I motioned my sister to come join me in the front. She had been lagging behind the whole trip, taking in her surroundings with a wary eye, her small wings twitching constantly. But now she came up beside me instantly.

"What's up, big brother? What'd you need? More of my trademark smartassery?"

"Not at all, Yua." I gave a long sigh. "You know it's wearing on me. No, I needed to talk to you about something. When am I going to know more about Dad?"

She smiled for just a moment, and there I knew he was alive, and she knew of it! But her smile quickly faded, and while she didn't look unhappy, it made me somewhat uneasy regardless. What did she know that I didn't? If he was alive and well, why didn't she say so? Shit. Now this was going to bother me all until we got back to that old crazy's house. I broke out in a run, and I could hear my gals behind me do the same, after a brief hesitation. It was time to find out what happened to my father, clear Bow's name, and go back home! Yes! Things were looking up!

* * *

"Ladon help us, Rand! Are you done up there yet?"

My enormous horse-like friend looked down slowly from his perch atop the roof of our new cabin. His ear twitched once before he yawned widely.

"Yeah, I am, Bow," he drawled out. "Don't worry. She's just about done. Just a couple more nails, a few shingles, and a bit more tar, and this old thang will be done up good! I am pumped!"

I smiled broadly at my friend's happy attitude and strange sayings. He had come a long way in our time together here; he'd been too damn serious for his own good. Just like my boy Ryu.

As usual, my thoughts turned to him and how he might be making out on his quest. I never knew where he might be, so a letter would have been nigh useless to send to him. So I just had to wait. Stuck here with that crazy old Niro and stoic Rand. Well, neither was so crazy or stoic anymore. Niro had just seemed a little off kilter when we first met him because the poor blighter was starving. Hell, I'd have been the same way. Luckily, I was always able to keep the three of us well fed, thanks to my trusty crossbow.

_The five of us_, I reminded myself a trifle testily. I always forgot about Sana and her grandmother. Now THAT was a crazy old lady right there. She was forever walking about slowly in her red cloak, hunched over where we couldn't even see her damn face, muttering about spells this and Ryu that and dragons and all kinds of crazy batshit ideas.

I was able to find out through her something very interesting about Ryu, though. He apparently had the powers of a dragon. Who could have guessed that scared little kid I helped rescue would be this super badass warrior? I gave a small chuckle as I watched Rand slowly descend. He was something else, Ryu was. Dammit, when was he coming?

"Yoo hoo, little dog boy!" Sana's lovely, albeit annoying, voice drifted from inside her room. How I hated that nickname! And she knew it too. Gritting my teeth, I poked my head around the corner and gave her an inquisitive look. She smiled brightly at me, and then asked when dinner might be. For someone with a figure like hers, and that was one to die for, she sure did pack away a healthy amount of food every day.

But good Ladon help me, she could be the most condescending, bitchiest girl on earth when she wanted to be. Ugh! One more reason I really hoped Ryu would return with some good news soon. I needed a break from her. I needed to get back on the road, hopefully with those two honeys he was with, and maybe Rand too. He didn't want to go back to Coursair ever again, and I couldn't blame him. Finding out you're a stooge for a demon could be rough on someone.

I saw Rand stop while he was on the ladder, and I saw him gazing into the near distance. And then I heard a shout of joy, some squealing, and a few yells all mixed together. Finah-freaking-lee! He was back! And sounded like he hadn't ditched any of the gals, and in fact, sounded like he had added more. Hmm. I wonder who the extra could be.

And a few minutes later, to my incredible surprise, I found out.

As I sipped on a glass of water (the freshest around, Niro assured me. Straight from the mountain spring!), I thought to myself how well Bow had handled seeing Yua face-to-face. After all, she had directly been a cause of his getting arrested (well, it was his own dumb fault for accepting the mission, but still). I was hoping he wouldn't want to beat her to a pulp, especially before he found out she was my sister. But he did it with aplomb, and I made sure to tell him so later as we all were milling about.

He grinned his famous sheepish grin. "Ahh, thanks, man. It means a lot coming from you. I mean, don't get me wrong. I am still plenty mad about the whole situation, sister of yours or not. Caused me a LOT of grief. And when I first got here, if I had had my chance, I would have slapped the hell out of her before dragging her ass to Hometown and turning her in. But I am different now. More calm. I tell you, working to help people like this makes me feel so alive. Like, I enjoyed working with the Rangers, and with you, but I never felt as if we did anything worthwhile, you know?"

I nodded sagely. I knew exactly what he meant; sure, it was nice helping out people like Mina finding their little lost piggies, but overall, what the hell did it do for anyone in the long run? Nothing. Which was just another reason I never wanted to return to Hometown and work for the Elder again, much as I admired his character. I was certainly glad to know that Bow felt the same way.

"I'm glad you said that, Bow, and I agree wholeheartedly. We had a great job for ten years, getting to work with our best friends, but it was all just empty in the end. Hell, rescuing Niro from that cockroach was the best thing we did, and that was on accident!

"But that brings me to something I was going to share with everyone later. I want you to know up front, though." He looked incredibly eager, and I silently prayed that he'd be as willing when I told him.

"Here's the thing, my good old buddy. I ain't stopping now. Even though I found our thief, my sister even (and who saw that coming?), I won't allow myself to come back to Hometown and just spend the rest of my days fighting John in sparring matches or evading my landlady or spying on Trout. Those days are long past me now. One quest was solved, but there is another, something bigger. I have a mystery to solve, my powers. I haven't told you about them, haven't had the chance really. I told you I burned down Sana's and her granny's house, but I never said how…"

He cut me off here. "I know you haven't, Ryu,and it's okay. I would have been scared to say it too. But the granny actually told me what you have in you. A dragon! I think that is the most badass thing ever! Dude, you are going to be able to beat Barubary one day. He was big back when we were kids, but you're a damn dragon now! He's going to be scared of you, all right." He punched the air several times. "Huh! He won't stand a chance against our might now!"

I had to smile. It was good to see Bow acting like his old self. I clapped him on the back. "You're right, man! He won't. But I am not ready to fight him yet. I have only dragon whelp powers. I need to develop it. And when that day comes…shit. You are so right. Barubary will have his ass kicked back to hell and he'll tell everyone there what a bad bunch of mofos did it to him! Huzzah!"

We started whooping and doing a little war dance around the center of the room. I was sure we were making a fool of ourselves, and in the kitchen no less, but I didn't care. Hah! Not at all. The only people here were my closest friends now. Well, I did miss Sten. But I felt I had made the right decision in letting him return to Highland alone. He needed to reunite with his own family there, or at least, that princess. Who knows, maybe he'd end up staying there with her. I hoped not, but I had to admit the possibility of that was there.

Bow made one last yell before halting and turning to me. "As you can probably imagine, Ryu, I want to go with you. Us, the best of friends, on the open road again! It'll be awesome! And now we can finally get revenge on that beast together. We'll hunt him down, and kill him. And hopefully find out what happened to Gate along the way." I must have looked disheartened for a second, for his furry hand was on my shoulder an instant later. "Don't worry, man. We'll find out. I promise. Now we have your sister to turn to, and you said she's got some info about your old man! It'll be great. We'll go rescue him too, and then go from there. It'll be like old times, only better!"

I nodded, solemn for a moment, before smiling again. "You're right, Bow! Things are looking up a lot. We can clear your name, my sister is no longer m.i.a., she has news about Dad, and hopefully Gate too. Not to mention we'll be able to explore the world together, not just the plains around Hometown!"

He nodded eagerly, nearly bounding around the room in excitement. "Yeah! Let's do it, Ryu. Come on! Let's tell the others!" He turned and raced out the room, leaving me to start speeding behind his wake. I was happy as could be I had convinced my best friend to come with me; now there was only Rand to talk to, as well as Sten when we met back up with him. But this was a group who would have my back in anything; I felt confident in their abilities completely. Now it was just a matter of matter of talking to my sister to find out where my father was.


End file.
